Right Before Your Eyes
by Uisce Beatha
Summary: He was starting to find it all, a mentor, friends, love, acceptance, life is good. However, it is never that way for long and Naruto is going to find out firsthand. Elsewhere, The Nine assemble intent on stopping the Akatsuki. Let the game begin.Naruharem
1. Life Begins

AN: Hey guys, welcome to my first story in a long time. I seriously have no time to write, by I am making some time here and there, and thus I feel I can regularly update this story. But…check it out.

Also here are the pairings:

Naruto- Hinata, Ino, Tenten, Temari, FemHaku, Sakura, and Ayame-WARNING This is not a usual harem fic. Naruto will not be happily married or anything to all these girls at the same time. These are girls he will have romances with, and some off them he will probably marry, but I will not disclose the final harem yet.  
Iruka- Kurenai, Anko  
Kakashi- Rin, Shizune  
Jaraiya- Tsunade

**Right before your Eyes**

"You have failed for a second time. You are pathetic."

Naruto's head just drooped lower. He had failed the gennin exam for a second time, and there was no excuse he could make that would justify his failure.

"You're right, I am a failure."

"Raise your head boy. You may be a failure, but stop pouting over that fact. Be a man."

Naruto finally raised his head. He had been staring at his feet for the last few hours.

Naruto looked up and then looked left and right. He instantly knew he was not in Konoha anymore.

"Hey! Where am I? This is not Konoha."

The land was covered with snow and sand. A bitter, chilly wind buffeted Naruto. The cold seeped all the way down into his bones. There were no trees in sight, nor any houses or buildings. The land was barren and cold.

"Welcome to my land. Welcome to my home."

Naruto finally realized that the voice he had been occasionally hearing for the past half hour did not belong to anyone. There was no other person in the barren land.

"Where are you? Who are you?

"I am Suna no Shitsunen, the sands of oblivion. I am here because your eyes have called me."

Naruto was confused. "My eyes? What about them?"

"You are too young to know what you have. You are the great recipient of the _Shounetsujigokugan_ (Burning Hell Eye)."

Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration. "What is a Shou-Shounetsujigokugan."

"Foolish mortal, if you have to ask, then you are not worthy of knowing."

"Hey! Don't be mean to me, you brought it up!" yelled Naruto.

"You are correct. I did bring it up. You are a pathetic shinobi, but your eyes cannot go to waste. I must train you, lest you bring down the world with your bumbling ways."

Naruto was done. He had taken his fill of taunting and hurtful comments at the village.

Naruto turned around. "I am leaving." He started to walk away from the spot he had been standing on.

"Foolish boy, this dimension is endless. I am ruler here, you will never get away."

"Doesn't matter, I am Uzumaki Naruto, and I will find a way," stated Naruto as he continued to walk away.

"Hahah, you are a funny child. Keep walking then, I will wait for you to get tired."

Naruto kept walking determined to beat the disembodied voice. He was Uzumaki Naruto, and he was done letting others walk over him. Fortunately for him, the new attitude was most fortuitous.

"You are quite stubborn. This is good. Stop, we must discuss your training."

Naruto stopped. "Huh? What training?"

"You think that the owner of the Shounetsujigokugan (Burning Hell Eye), and the Kyuuketsukigan (Vampire Eye), is going to get away from training. Hell NO! I will train you. I must, your gifts cannot go to waste, _they_ are needed."

"What?! How the hell do I have so many 'eyes'?" asked Naruto.

"That is not important yet. You can barely use chakra, you are not worthy yet to learn of your 'eyes' as you say."

"Then teach me."

**.oOoOoOo.**

Naruto was delivered home safely. He had come to an agreement with the Sands. Menthos, also known as Suna no Shitsunen, had agreed to help Naruto. Naruto would now get real training, and would also be learning about his special eyes. To start it all off, Naruto had spent five days in the sand area, while only one night passed in the real world. Naruto had gotten some of the basics down.

Naruto woke up late and quickly got out of his bed. He decided to go get some ramen before meeting his new class, if he had time. Naruto sighed, hoping that this time there would be someone who would want to be his friend.

Pulling on his clothes, Naruto left his apartment, pausing only to lock it. Locks were ineffective against shinobi, but at the very least the locks would keep out civilians.

Naruto turned away from his door, and set out with a slow jog. Seeing as he was late, Naruto jogged past the ramen stand, slowing down only to wave to Ayame.

"Why don't you go even slower, then maybe we will never reach the academy," gibed Menthos.

Naruto scowled. "What the hell, I am going. And it's not like I can just not wave to Ayame-chan."

"Fine, whatever, but if you keep up this backtalk I will stop training you," stated Menthos.

Naruto scowled again. "Fine, whatever."

"My first lesson is: emotions get in your way. So stop whining. Emotions are good, but never during a mission or important event. Emotions cloud your judgment. So stop whining about everything, it just makes you weaker."

"Okay, okay. No need to get mad," muttered Naruto.

"Shape up, baka. We are here."

Naruto scowled for the third time in ten minutes. He did not want to go to the academy. Naruto knew his chance of making friends was slim, and anyway all the training he needed, Menthos could provide.

But, then again, Menthos had made Naruto promise to attend and pay attention at the academy. Naruto adjusted his goggles, gave a sigh, and started to walk to his classroom.

Upon entering the class, Naruto noticed a few things.

First, there was a dark, brooding boy with black hair and a crest detonating the boy as an Uchiha. The boy had his arms crossed, and was scowling heavily. Secondly, there were a few girls fighting over who got to sit next to the Uchiha. While, the girls were loud, the rest of the class was pretty much silent. There was a boy in the corner who was sleeping, and another boy next to him who was munching on chips. A few other students were there, but by this point, Naruto was just scanning for a seat.

"Hurry and find a seat, the teacher will begin talking soon, and this year you have to make a good expression," chided Menthos.

Naruto gave Menthos a mental nod. Naruto then noticed a seat was open next to a jacket and sunglasses wearing, dark haired boy.

Trotting over to the mysterious boy, Naruto plopped down in the open seat. Naruto did not say anything to the boy next to him. If anything, he had learned that people hated others who always tried to force friendship upon each other.

"Do not talk to him, let him come to you. He seems silent, and smart. They boy has potential to be a friend or teammate," Menthos advised Naruto.

"Okay," responded Naruto mentally.

"Alright, class, settle down!" yelled the instructor all of a sudden.

Naruto straightened in his chair and brought his attention to a complete focus on the instructor. Naurto had made a promise to Menthos, and he intended to fulfill it. And besides, Menthos was training him, and the training was most definitely worth anything.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's get down to the lessons," said the instructor.

Naruto, upon hearing the instructor's voice again, could not help but think that the voice was very familiar. He looked harder at the instructor. Two seconds later, Naruto realized his teacher was Iruka-sensei, the man who had taught Naruto two years ago, and who was and still is Naruto's friend.

Naruto felt overjoyed. Iruka was a fair-minded man, and Naruto thought of Iruka as an older brother.

"Enough joy, starting listening," admonished Menthos.

Naruto sighed and then started to pay attention to Iruka once more.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Soon enough, lunch time came around. Lunch break was a half hour long. After lunch there was training for an hour and then the academy ended for the day.

Naruto jogged outside to wake up his legs and aching butt.

"Come kid, it wasn't that bad," said a chuckling Menthos.

"Shut up, you didn't have to sit in a chair through all of that," retorted Naruto.

When Menthos gave no reply, Naruto sighed and searched for a place to eat. He found a tree under which he could sit and eat. Naruto opened his paper bag and pulled out the box of cold ramen, which he had made last night. Naruto silently ate his ramen, even while internally shouting at the cold ramen, for being…too cold.

"Tonight, kid, I got a treat for you. Well, first you will have to take a small test, but then I will teach you the first part of your many powers," stated Menthos.

Naruto smiled, he loved learning new things form Menthos. Menthos always taught him fun stuff, and learning was not a drag when Menthos taught him.

Naruto quickly finished his ramen and then took a quick nap. When the bell rang, Naruto got up and headed over to the training area.

Once over at the training area, Naruto crossed his arms and stood silently, waiting for Iruka to say something.

"Alright, class, today is accuracy day. You will be throwing kunai and shuriken at a target designated for you for the next full hour," said Iruka.

Naruto sighed, he hated target practice.

"Quit your belly-aching, go get the kunai and get started," commanded Menthos.

"Okay, okay," grumbled Naruto.

Naruto ran over to the kunai box and quickly grabbed a few kunai and shuriken before running off to find a wooden target that was far away from Iruka.

"You cannot throw a kunai without a flexible wrist. You must snap your wrist to get the desired speed and accuracy from a kunai," lectured Menthos as Naruto quickly spotted a target and ran over to it.

Naruto situated himself about 20 feet away from the wooden target post. He remembered all the quick advice Menthos had given him during his dream-like training session.

Naruto flung kunai after kunai. While his throwing technique was better, his aim had only improved very little.

"Hahah, after all that, you hit the wooden post, but not a single hit was a bullseye. Damn, you didn't even come close," stated Menthos.

Naruto gave the wooden post an evil-eye glare, and started muttering obscene anti-wood statements under his breath.

Naruto jogged over to the post and pulled his kunai and shuriken out. He ran back to his throwing spot and began to hurl his weapons once more.

**.oOoOoOo.**

"That was okay training at the academy, you have the ability to perform far better than you actually did," lectured Menthos.

"Whatever, I think I did fine," grumbled Naruto.

"What you think really doesn't matter at this point. Now get ready, it's training time," said Menthos.

Naruto gave Menthos a mental nod. Naruto was in training area 97, the last training ground area, and the one area no one ever trained. It had become his personal training spot.

"Alright, first a short quiz. Recite to me the basic knowledge of chakra," stated Menthos.

"Chakra can best be described as power or energy a ninja needs in order to perform techniques. It is probably the most important element in fighting for ninjas. Chakra consists of two main parts: the body energy and spiritual energy. Body energy can be tapped into from the cells in your body. The faster your cells move around in your body the more energy you have. Body energy provides strength for a ninja's mind. Spiritual energy is usually acquired from certain experiences in training or battle. Spiritual energy can be best described as an adrenaline rush or extra burst ofenergy. This may come in handy when a ninja is very tired and worn out.

Controlling chakra during battle is one of the most important aspects in fighting. Another important part is to being able to build chakra to perform techniques. Building chakra is essential if you want to perform Genjutsu and Ninjutsu techniques correctly. Stamina also plays a big part in this. In order to create chakra you must convert it from stamina. When you perform techniques you not only release chakra but also stamina. Being unable to control your chakra can end up being deadly. If you release too small of an amount, the technique you tried to perform will fail. If you use too much chakra you may end up severely hurting or killing yourself. A ninja must have a certain amount of chakra in their body to live.

In addition to the circulatory system in your body to transfer blood, ninjas also has a circulatory system to transport chakra. Instead of having veins and arteries, chakra is transported from certain pipes and passage ways. Chakra is released by traveling through this system and out. Since the chakra circulatory system goes around many important organs, when the circulatory system is attacked and damaged, your organs may be damaged as well. There are 361 openings in the chakra circulatory system in your body. This opening is called the Tenketsu. When the Tenketsus are blocked you will be unable to perform any techniques. The Byakugan has the ability to neutralize all the holes so chakra cannot flow. It is very important to protect yourself from these types of attacks.

Chakra gates are gates in the body that are used as limiters for chakra. They regulate the flow of chakra thoughout a person's body to prevent someone from going beyond his/her body's control. But by using a move like the Primary Lotus, which opens 3 gates, the user can release some of the limits on the body. This means the body can move at a much higher rate and with more power. Opening a gate increases chakra flow temporarily, but by doing this, it means the user puts an incredible amount of force on his/her body which can result in massive injury. There are 8 gates in a body. If all 8 are opened, the body no longer has any limits and can move as fast as it wants. But opening all 8 gates is often fatal and depending on the move, it can kill the user," stated Naruto in a matter of fact way.

"You remember a lot for a little idiot," commented Menthos. "Alright, begin your training like usual, then I will tell you about your special abilities."

"Alright!" yelled an enthusiastic Naruto.

Naruto kneeled down and then put his body parallel to the ground. He began to do pushups. Naruto slowly lowered himself until his nose touched the ground, and then he slowly lifted himself up.

"Good, doing this exercise slowly will keep your muscles in constant use and thus make them stronger," said Menthos.

Naruto grunted and continued with his workout.

After 2 hours, he had finished his pushups, crunches, laps, and speed drills. Naruto was sweating, but he was not out of energy. Naruto took a deep breath and then addressed Menthos.

"What's this _Akachakra_ (Red Chakra) stuff that you keep randomly muttering about?" asked Naruto.

"Well, I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you. Akachakra is the ability you have due to the Kyuubi inside of you. You do remember when I explained you had the Kyuubi in you, right?" said Menthos.

"Yea, I remember, we spent like 5 days in that weird place of yours, and you said a lot, but I remember."

"Okay, then I can continue," stated Menthos. "The Kyuubi has red chakra, Akachakra that is very powerful. Due to you being the Kyuubi's container, you can take its Akachakra with the right jutsu combo. I will teach the combo to you and you will take all of the Kyuubi's chakra and make it your own. This is the only way I can continue to teach you. Once you get the Akachakra, your eyes will activate and you will be able to do the jutsu you are meant to use."

"So what do I need to do?" asked Naruto.

"Not yet, you are not ready yet. First, meditate and look within yourself. Once you can see yourself standing in front of two pools, give me a call," said Menthos.

Naruto sighed and sat down. He knew he was in for a long haul.

* * *

Iruka sighed a content sigh and leaned back in his chair. He had finally finished his paperwork and could finally go home. 

It had been a good first day. The class had been composed and had many promising young future shinobi. Even Naruto had been quiet and respectful, which surprised Iruka most of all. He had not known that Naruto possessed any ability to remain still, without fidgeting.

Iruka smiled, at the thought of Naruto. He thought of Naruto as a little brother, and hoped that Naruto passed this year.

Iruka got up off his chair, picked up his keys and walked out of the room. He walked down the stairs and walked out of the academy.

Iruka leapt into the trees and silently jumped from tree to tree, lost in his thoughts. After a few minutes, Iruka heard sobbing, or actually, what sounded like multiple women sobbing. Iruka, being the concerned lover of all human beings he was, headed towards the sound.

After a few seconds, Iruka found himself overlooking a small clearing that contained two women. One woman had purple hair, and wore barely legal clothes. The other woman had black hair, and bright red eyes. She wore bandages over her body, most probably covering her real clothes.

Anko, the purple haired woman, was crying and sobbing in the arms of Kurenai, the red haired woman. Kurenai had tear streaks down her face, as if she had been crying, but had stopped. Her eyes were lit with determination and anger.

"Shhh, shhh, Anko-chan, its okay, everything is alright. Those villagers have no idea what they are talking about. I still love you and so do many others," said Kurenai soothingly.

Iruka was puzzled. He had not known that Kurenai and Anko were such good friends. He wondered how he had overlooked the women's friendship.

"Don't worry Anko-chan, you will be fine. I will be fine too, I will get back at Asuma, the filthy bastard, if it's the last thing I do. He has no right to try to dictate my life. I am happy I told I am through with him," growled Kurenai. "I just wish I could get some food for us, I am hungry and I bet you are too, right?"

Anko nodded her head so slightly, that Iruka nearly missed the movement.

Iruka was happy to hear that Kurenai did not like Asuma anymore, he had had a crush on her for a long time. Actually, it was more complex than that. Iruka loved Kurenai **and** Anko. Anko teased him mercilessly and he loved it, and Kurenai was a beauty that was unmatched in the entire world. Iruka was in love, and it was love that made him throw the knapsack filled with his dinner at feet of Kurenai. Not looking back to see if Kurenai got the good, Iruka fled, hoping one day he would have enough courage to tell the two women he loved them both.

* * *

Kakashi sat in his house, flipping through his porn book. It was the way he spent most of his time. It was his outlet, seeing other women doing obscene things made him forget about Rin, even if for only a while. 

Kakashi loved Rin with all his heart and he could not even spend a moment without thinking about her. Even when he was on a mission or training, he thought of Rin. Kakashi hoped one day she would return to him, as pure and beautiful as the day she had left.

Kakashi got up off his couch, put his book down, and went and lied down on his bed, praying for sleep to take away his accursed thoughts of Rin.

* * *

Zetsumei, or Zetsu for short, let his consciousness spread through the land, the air and the water. He was in his element, he was one with nature, the only mother and father he had ever known. 

Nature was fair, it was real. Nature did not punish unnecessarily, it did not kill with any purpose. Nature was the perfect balance and he loved it.

His orders from Dageki, leader of The Nine, were to go to Wave country and to gather information on the state of the country and its power struggles.

Zetsu materialized at the edge of a shantytown. Emerging from a tree, Zetsu stood on one of the higher branches, taking in the sight of the rundown shantytown.

Near the edge of the town, there was a particularly rundown hut. Zetsu did not know why, but that particular hut attracted his attention.

Zetsu jumped from tree to tree, before finally landing in the backyard of the hut.

Zetsu looked closely and saw a little girl. She wore rags for clothes, and her hair was extremely dirty. Zetsu, for the first time in his life, felt a small twinge of pity for the girl.

Zetsu approached the little girl's play area. There was a stump of an old tree nearby and he sat down. Zetsu patiently waited for the little girl to notice him.

"She will never notice you," stated a voice quietly from behind him.

Zetsu turned his head and answered just as quietly, "Why not, Kyuusei."

The mysterious Kyuusei pointed to the girl. "See her eyes; they look to be a little murky." Kyuusei then lowered his hand. "She only has partial vision. My best guess is that she can only see blurs and outlines, but not any details. She will think of you as part of the tree you are sitting on."

Zetsu lowered his head. "Thank you for bringing that to my attention."

Kyuusei shook his head. "Why are you even here, Zetsu?" he asked.

Zetsu crossed his legs and lowered his hands into his lap. He stayed silent for a few moments.

"I do not know, Kyuusei. Something tugged at my heart and drew me here," replied Zetsu.

"The heart is a very mysterious thing, Zetsumei. You may be death and nature in human form, but even you have a heart," stated Kyuusei.

"But why now? I have lived for 114 years, but it is now that I feel anything," said Zetsu.

"I will repeat; the heart is a mysterious thing. I gained that knowledge firsthand," said Kyuusei sadly.

Zetsu immediately turned his head to look at Kyuusei.

"How do you know? We know nothing about you Kyuusei, even spying on you is useless," asked Zetsu.

Kyuusei shifted uncomfortable and then snapped into a rigid, business-like manner.

"I have not time to talk right now, Zetsu. I have orders to follow through on. I must go."

With that, Kyuusei disappeared in a flash of black fire.

Zetsu shook his head and turned back to look at the girl. When he saw her, Zetsu immediately noticed that she was looking at him.

"Who's there?" asked the little girl.

"A friend who wants to know you," answered Zetsu.

The little girl bounced up and down with joy. "A friend, a real friend! You meant it!" she yelled.

Zetsu, unable to understand why, was smiling a small smile. Smiling in itself was a foreign concept to him, but here he was, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

Zetsu got up and walked closer to the girl. "Yes…I mean it."

The girl bounded closer to him, and Zetsu suddenly felt like backing away. Unfortunately for him, the girl noticed.

"Where are you going, friend?" she asked in small, timid voice.

"Away. You cannot see me, and that is why you are not afraid. I am a monster, I should leave," replied Zetsu.

Now, Zetsu was even more perplexed. He had gone from killer and spy to watching a girl play, then to acknowledging himself as a monster. All this had happened in a span of less than 20 minutes.

"Don't leave." The girl looked down at her dirty feet. "I don't have any friends, no one wants to play with me."

The heart that Zetsu believed that he didn't have suddenly went weak. His 'heartstrings' were being pulled on, and Zetsu nearly felt tears come to his eyes. He had lived for 114 years and he had never cried, yet here he was, feeling moisture in his eyes.

He walked over to the girl and knelt down beside her. "You remind me of me as a little kid.** Do not worry; we will not let anyone hurt you**."

The girl sniffled and tried to stop crying, but when she couldn't stop, she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around Zetsu.

&&&&&&

Internally, while being hugged, Zetsu's two halves were talking to each other.

"**The girl is like us, we will kill all those who refuse to be around her,**" said the black half.

"No, she would not want that," stated the white half.

"**Pathetic, you will not even advocate killing those who hurt her.**"

"No, I can take her with me, I can heal her. I am nature; I can use nature's power to heal her."

"**We may be nature, and we may be able to heal her, but we must kill to revenge for her condition.**"

"What condition?"

"**She is downtrodden and sad, as we once were. She has no one, and she will end up like us.**"

"No, I will take her with me, she will be okay."

"**Pathetic. We should not be so easygoing, but for now, her safety will do.**"

&&&&&&

Zetsu opened his eyes as the hug and his internal debate ended. The girl had unwrapped her arms from around him and had stepped back.

"Can we play now, I think mama is done, and we can go back in the house," she said in a cute voice.

Zetsu was confused. "How do you know your mama is done?"

"She says I have to go outside until there ain't no more noises from inside, then I can go back in," stated the little girl.

Zetsu listened carefully to the hut. He heard moans and grunts coming from a man inside. Then he understood, the mother was a prostitute. The mother was selling her body for money. Zetsu felt a small bit of anger. He was a killer, but even he had a code of honor.

"I must take her with us," he stated with finality.

The little girl looked up at him. "Huh? Did you say something, friend?" she asked.

Zetsu gave a small smile and picked up the little girl. "I am going to take you and your mama to a better place. You will be safe there; you will make many friends there."

The little girl smiled and snuggled in his arms. Zetsu strode through the small backyard and into the rundown hut. There was a woman lying on the floor in the middle of the hut. A man had his back turned to her and was zipping up his pants.

"Well, you were okay, but I am gonna go get my buddies, I don't think I got my money's worth, so I might as well invite some others over for some fun," growled the man. He turned back to the woman on the floor, and spit on her. The man then walked out of the house, completely not realizing that Zetsu was also in the house.

Zetsu put the little girl down and walked over to her mother. He knelt down beside the mother, who was sobbing quietly.

Zetsu said nothing; there was nothing that he really could say. The mother noticed him and slid backwards, waving her hands in front of her.

"Please don't, I will do anything, just don't do that to me anymore, please I beg of you," pleaded the woman.

Zetsu sighed. He walked over to the woman and picked her up. "Nothing will happen to you…or your daughter. I am taking you away from here."

He walked over to a corner of the hut and put the woman down.

"Please, put on some clothes, whatever you have, and then we are leaving," said Zetsu in a soothing voice or as close to soothing as he could manage.

The woman nodded weakly and started to put her clothes on. Zetsu knew she did not trust him, but she was so scared that she would have done anything he had told her to do.

Just as the woman finished putting on her clothes, Zetsu heard noises coming from outside the hut. Zetsu hurried over to the woman and whispered in her ear, "Take your daughter and go out to your backyard. Stay there until I come to get you. Go, the men are coming."

The woman nodded and hurried out of the back of the hut, grabbing the little girl on her way.

Zetsu calmly stood in the middle of the hut, patiently waiting for the men to come in.

The original bastard had brought three friends with him. Zetsu smiled a cruel smile.

The men entered the hut while the man from before was bragging to his friends, "I tell you, she is a great fuck, she does exactly what you tell her to do. I even made her do some humiliating things, and boy is she great at sucking. You guys will love her."

Zetsu's blood boiled. Such treatment of a woman was punishable by death in Zetsu's mind. He readied his chakra.

The man who was bragging suddenly noticed there was no woman in the hut, but instead a man with a plant covering his head. "Hey, where's the whore I was with?" demanded the man.

Zetsu's cruel, cold smile grew larger. "It does not matter where she is. You are dead. _Shimaneki Sō_ (Deathbringer Weed)."

Four small seeds flew from Zetsu's hands and struck the men on their chests.

Zetsu turned around and started to walk away. The seeds stuck to the men's chests flared, and vines started to grow from the seeds and into the men's bodies. Two seconds later, all the men were dead.

Zetsu just smiled.

* * *

Dageki sat down on a stool and order a drink. He was tired and wanted to relax. Being the leader of a powerful organization was very tiring work. 

"A glass of cold water," said an alluring voice from next to him.

Dageki was an honorable man, but what man can resist a woman who had such an alluring voice. He was compelled by the masculine gods to turn his head and look at the woman beside him.

Dageki turned his head and found himself looking at an angelic woman. She was beautiful, but dangerous. He knew that she was Konan, second in command of the Akatsuki. Dageki was instantly on alert, but did not let it show. This was a great chance for him to garner some information.

"Hey, I know this is a lame way to get a woman's attention, but why would you come to a bar, filled with drunks and uncouth men, to get water?"

Konan looked at Dageki, but did not say anything. Dageki internally sighed; it looked to be that Konan was not an easy woman to get talking.

"Alright, it's okay if you don't want to answer me," stated Dageki.

Dageki turned around, when he heard Konan say, "These men pass up information like the very water I drink."

Smiling lightly, Dageki spun around to face Konan. "Well, isn't that interesting, we are both here for the same purpose."

Konan scowled. "What information do you seek?"

Dageki gave a grin, "Well; now…that would be unfair. I know who you are Konan, no tricks will work on me."

Konan gasped, wondering how she had been found out.

Dageki chuckled. "If you are wondering how I knew…think, how many women walk around with a paper rose in their hair."

Konan glared at him. "You may be right, but what do you intend to do?"

Dageki gave a loud laugh. "Me? I don't intend to do anything. I am much, much older and more powerful than you are; I feel no threat from you in any way."

Konan's eyes narrowed. "A bit confident, aren't you?"

Dageki smirked and shook his head. "You don't know who I am, do you? Maybe it is better this way."

"Who are you? You look like a newcomer to the slums," said Konan.

Dageki was not a newcomer to the slums. He had grown up in the slums of Rock country, and in Rock country, it was even harder to survive than other countries. Dageki's village had been a small one, only 5 miles away from Iwagakure, the Village Hidden in the Rocks. Dageki had never known his mother or father, and no one ever took care of him.

Rock country always had a shortage of food, and even more so for the orphans. It was a land where only the strong survived, and last time Dageki had checked, it was still the same. His childhood had been filled with running from those he had stolen from and finding others to steal from. Dageki had fought hard to survive, harder than anyone else he knew. It had paid off, and now he was rich, powerful, and loved. One day, if he ever got the courage, he would ask the woman he loved to marry him.

"I am no newcomer to the slums," stated Dageki. "Why? Do you come here often?"

Konan gave no answer. She merely turned her head and continued to sip her water.

"Well, if you are not going to be a wellspring of information, I guess I will have to do this the hard way," said Dageki with a sigh as he pinched a nerve in Konan's neck and knocked her out.

* * *

AN: Hey guys, Malum here. I guess that if you are reading this, you have finished the first chapter. I hope you liked it, and I hope I didn't suck to bad at this story. Well, review if you want, because I would love to hear criticism, it helps me write better. Also, let me give you some info on some of the oc's in this story, or at least the ones we have seen so far. 

Naruto in this story will be powerful, but not overnight, he will have to work up to the high levels of power. And dont worry about his bloodline eyes, they are more like chakraline eyes, and will only aid him a little bit.

Menthos- Suna no Shitsunen, the Sands of Oblivion. This OC, in the story, is over a thousand years old, and he agrees to train Naruto.

Kyuusei- Part of The Nine, a new organization I have introduced. He's a quiet, secretive guy, and not much is known about him.

Dageki- Leader of The Nine. Dageki is 373 years old, and his nearly one with the Earth, so basically, he is tough and hard to crack. Also, he is very honorable, and hates sneaky, underhanded methods that some people use. cough cough orochimaru cough cough

Alright, cya next chapter, which I hope is soon, but I am also writing another story, and also I am writing one-shots that depict Naruto with every girl I want to see him paired with. Each one-shot focuses on one girl.


	2. It Goes on

Hey guys, it's me again. I hope you like my story so far, 'cause here is the second chapter.

* * *

**Right Before Your Eyes**

* * *

Naruto stood before two pools of chakra. One pool was the size of a pond and it was blue. The other pool was the size of an ocean, and it was red. The pools were separated by about ten feet of distance. Naruto gazed upon his chakra pools and was awed by the gigantic size of the red chakra pool, the chakra that belong to the Kyuubi. 

"So what do I do know?" asked Naruto.

"You know what to do. Repeat and perform the jutsu like I taught you to, and it will all work out," stated Menthos.

"Okay, if you are sure," muttered Naruto as he walked over to the edge of the red chakra pool.

Naruto knelt by the pool and stuck his hand in the red chakra pool. He clenched his hand as if grabbing the red chakra and quietly said, "_Chakra Hokaku_ (Chakra Seizure)."

Naruto stood up and started to walk over to the blue pool, a thick rope of red chakra in his fist. The rope felt smooth and slippery, but Naruto managed to keep a hold on the chakra rope. Naruto stuck the red chakra rope, which was connected to the red chakra pool, into the pool of blue chakra.

As he let go, Naruto yelled, "_Chakra Tanshinfunin_ (Chakra Transfer)."

Instantly, the chakra rope become a chakra tunnel. Red chakra, from its pool, started to flow across the tunnel that connected the two pools. The red chakra slowly started to mix into the blue pool chakra.

"Quickly, you must expend all your chakra, otherwise the red will make your chakra pool overflow, which is quite dangerous," said Menthos in a hurried tone.

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, is that so? Alright then, I hope it works."

Naruto woke up from his trip inside his own body and quickly started to force chakra out of his hands and feet, just like Menthos had suggested that he do. Naruto started to ran back and forth across the training ground, pushing chakra out of every possible chakra opening.

Naruto skimmed back and forth across the training ground, turning and jumping randomly, in hopes that his muscles would tire more quickly. He then decided to take it a step further, he started to flip and tumble, while continuing to run, turn, and jump. All in all, it had become a very strenuous exercise.

After about two minutes of pushing chakra out of his chakra pores and running around like a lunatic, Naruto fell down on the ground, exhausted, and then he realized he had no more chakra to expend.

"Good job. You are out of chakra. Rest for the next half hour and then your training will begin," said Menthos.

"Alright." Naruto stretched out on the ground and closed his eyes, anxiously waiting for the half hour to pass so that he could begin the real meat of his training. He stretched out on the soft, warm grass. The sun beat down upon his body, keeping him warm and cozy. The slight breeze ruffled his hair like a parent would have done, making Naruto's entire body relax.

After a while, Naruto was rudely woken up by a loud voice, belonging to the one and only Menthos.

"Hey, idiot, wake up. It is time for your training!"

Naruto groaned, turning onto his side, the grass tickled his face, but Naruto's weariness could not be overcome. A few moments, Naruto opened his eyes with a tremendous amount of effort, or so it felt to him. He blinked furiously, trying to rid himself of the sleepiness he felt. Naruto rubbed his face in the grass, hoping that one of the blades of grass might cut him and jolt his brain to consciousness.

A few moments after the few moments before, Naruto raised himself onto his hands and knees. The grass and the ground felt soft, yet hard beneath his touch and Naruto, after such a short nap, felt invigorated. He leaned forward, stretching his back, working out the painful kinks. Sighing with contentment, Naruto leaned his head up and gave a loud groan, shaking away the last tendrils of sleep from his body.

Naruto dug his hands into the soft grass and pushed himself upright. Raising his arms above his head, Naruto stretched, cracking his bones and releasing all the tension that had built up during his sleep.

"Alright, Menthos, I am ready to begin," Naruto stated enthusiastically. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Okay. The red chakra replenished quite quickly, so you chakra pool should be full. Now, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel the red chakra that is filling your body; push it towards your muscles. The red chakra will permanently augment your muscles, giving you more speed and power. This is what we will work with first," lectured Menthos.

"Okay."

Naruto set his feet shoulder width apart, bent his arms upward, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, drawing in air with all the power in his lungs. Naruto let go of his senses. He let go off his sight, his smell, his touch and just tried to feel the chakra flowing within him.

He felt something. It was a rapidly moving stream of energy flowing through his body, all over his body. Naruto felt the energy in his legs, arms, and torso. It flowed quickly, and Naruto futilely tried to grasp his chakra, narrowing missing the energy by millimeters each time.

Naruto tried to stop his chakra and control its flow. But the red chakra was tricky, it continuely shifted and evaded his control.

"Akachakra is much worse than regular chakra; it is much harder to control. But, also, you are trying too hard, let go of trying, and just do," whispered Menthos into the recesses of Naruto's mind.

Naruto nodded his head, and tried again. He took another deep breath and let his mind wander his body. His entire body was relaxed and his muscles were loose. Naruto's breathing stabilized and he felt at peace.

Naruto, still relaxed, slowly moved his chakra to his muscles, a little chakra at a time. The chakra followed his commands, and Naruto could feel his muscles bunch up and then bulge outward. Naruto then quickly, without warning to his almost sentient chakra, pushed all his chakra into is muscles. Pain quickly overtook him and Naruto fell to the ground, landing heavily in the grass.

Naruto's body was wracked with spasms, and he rolled left and right in the grass, trying to alleviate the pain he felt. After a few powerful spasms, which caused Naruto's body to lift off of the ground and clench unbearably, the pain stopped. Naruto slammed back onto the ground, and lay there, taking small, quick breaths.

"You did well. The pain meant it worked. I did not want to tell you off the pain, otherwise you might have held back," remarked Menthos.

Naruto weakly nodded his head at his unseen ally. He laid there, arms widespread, his chest heaving furiously. Naruto rolled over onto his stomach and pushed himself up off of the ground.

Naruto shakily stood on his feet, nearly losing his balance a few times. Taking a few deep breaths, Naruto felt stable.

"Alright, I did it. Did it work?" he asked.

"Try it out. You should be happy with the results," answered Menthos.

Naruto smiled, and started to take quick little steps in place, warming his legs up. Naruto then stretched his back, legs, and arms, making sure that all his muscles were okay after being filled with Akachakra.

Finding his body in sufficient condition, Naruto pumped his legs and headed for a tree across the training ground, at full speed.

Naruto could instantly feel the difference. He could feel himself moving faster than he had before. He was nowhere close to being a super-speed freak, but his speed had definitely increased. Naruto skimmed across the grass, barely feeling the ground beneath him.

Naruto reached the tree, skidding to a stop. He grinned happily.

"That was faster than my last run to this tree," he remarked.

"Yes, told you, you are faster. Now try punching the wooden stump to test your strength," said Menthos. "Punch with all your power too, test your limits."

Naruto raced over to the wooden post, utilizing his newly enhanced speed. Once before the post, Naruto swung with all his strength, hitting the middle of the wooden post. Before, his strongest punches had hit and made a only little crack in the wood. Now, his punch caused many spidery cracks to appear, as if he had hit a window with a rock. Naruto pulled his fist back and pumped it into the air, showing off his muscles to…himself.

"Enough of that! Now that you know you did what I told you correctly, we must move on. I have to teach you some jutsu, otherwise activating your eyes is pointless, you will have no 'weapon' to use to protect you and your developing special eye abilities, as you call them," cautioned Menthos.

"Okay! Teach me something, this is so sweet!" exclaimed Naruto, nearly jumping up and down with joy.

"You know how jutsu require chakra. Well, today, I am going to teach you two jutsu, and that is all you will learn for a long while. _Akachakra Buin_ (Red Chakra Staff) and _Akachakra Hosaki_ (Red Chakra Flame Tips) are both hard to learn and hard to master. Both require immense chakra control. For the _Akachakra Buin_, you will have to push the right amount of chakra out of your hands, lengthen it, and then, by using immense mental powers, harden the chakra into its metal form. For _Akachakra Hosaki_, every time you punch or kick, you will release burst of chakra, which upon hitting the air, will burst into a time amount of fire. Each physical blow you strike will also burn your opponent. After you learn these two jutsu, I will teach you my special brand of Taijutsu,_Mozuken_ (before your very eyes)," stated Menthos.

Naruto smiled at the thought of learning a taijutsu style, and two dangerous jutsu. "Alright, lets start!" he yelled.

"I will only have time to teach _Akachakra Buin_ before the academy starts. We only have an hour and a half left in morning training time," remarked Menthos.

"Doesn't matter, I can learn anything quickly, I am going to be a master shinobi," said a smug Naruto. Naruto was overjoyed that he had two 'eyes' and that only he had Akachakra. It made him feel special, and he would be able to kick the asses of all those who had picked on him.

"Enough daydreaming about your ascent to greatness, start concentrating," chided Menthos.

Naruto shook his head, returning from the land of dreams. "Alright, what do I do?"

"Pull the chakra from your core, up into your arms, and out your hands. They visualize a staff forming from the chakra, as you connect your two hands. Will maintaining your visual, pull your hands apart, and visualize the chakra staff hardening into metal. Keep visualizing your success until you get it right. Eventually, you will be able to form the staff with a mere thought," directed Menthos.

Naruto settled into a horse stance, placing his feet shoulder width apart, with his knees slightly bent. He took deep breaths, visualizing moving his chakra out of his hands, and into a staff shape.

Naruto felt his chakra move up his torso, and down through his arms. When it reached his hands, Naruto opened his eyes and looked down. His hands were covered by an aura of red chakra. He grins, and then closes his eyes once more, his thoughts back to visualizing a metal staff.

He slowly brought his two hands together. Then he curled his fingers, as if holding a stick between them. Then, his hands slide down an invisible stick, moving slowly but surely. Sweat drips down his forehead as he concentrated harder than he ever had before. A staff, made of swirling red chakra, appeared between his hands, which were about 3 feet apart. The chakra started to give off what looked like steam, before there was a flash, and the chakra was gone, now replaced by a metal staff.

Feeling something solid between his hands, Naruto opened his eyes. Looking at his hands, he saw a metal staff, about 5 feet long, clutched in his fingers. The staff was blood red, and very shiny.

"I did it," he quietly remarked to himself.

"Yes you did. But it is too weak," stated Menthos.

"Too weak, hmmm." Naruto swung his newly formed staff at the nearest wooden post. The staff shattered on impact.

"Damn, you were right, it is too weak," admitted Naruto. "I guess I will just have to try again."

Naruto went through the motions, and pulled the chakra out, through his hands. Concentrating, he materialized the staff once again, realizing it had been slightly easier this time. Once the staff was fully formed, Naruto opened his eyes, stepped forward, and swung at the wooden post, just like the last attempt. This time, the staff hit the wooden post and cracked, but did not shatter. Naruto brought it up closer to his eyes and inspected the staff. There was a long line running down the top of the staff, and the metal looked weak. Naruto sighed, happy that the staff was stronger than the first attempt, but unhappy that he could not make his staff strong.

"Keep working on it. It takes time, even Konoha was not built in a day," Menthos reminded Naruto.

Naruto understood, even the greatest shinobi took years to become as powerful as they were. Naruto wanted to continue with training, but it was time for the academy.

"Pay attention to Iruka. But whenever you have a moment, practice visualizing the staff," ordered Menthos.

"Okay."

Naruto wiggled his legs to get the blood flowing and started to jog to the Academy.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Naruto ran into his classroom. He bent over and placed his hands on his knees. Naruto had run at a quick pace to the academy. He was five minutes early, but he didn't care. Naruto looked up and located Shino. He jogged over to his seat and slid into his seat smoothly.

"Ask Shino to spar with you after school. You can practice some taijutsu on him. I will give you tips as you fight," ordered Menthos.

Naruto turned to Shino and politely tapped Shino on the shoulder. Shino turned to look at him.

"Hey Shino, I know I have only sat next to you for a month, and that we have never really talked, but I was wondering if you had time to spar with me after the academy today?" asked Naruto, with as much politeness as he could muster.

"Uzumaki-san, that is a gracious offer, and I believe I have no prior commitments later in the day, so I would be honored to accept your request," stated a very formal Shino.

"Sweet! It will be so much fun," exclaimed Naruto, not so secretly happy about having a playmate.

"Yes, it should be a noteworthy period of time," said Shino.

"Alright then, I guess I will find you here after the training period and then we can go to the training grounds together," said Naruto.

"Yes." Shino nodded his head, while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. "That is most satisfactory."

Naruto just grinned.

**.oOoOoOo.**

To Naruto, it seemed as if the end of the academy day came around quite quickly. The school day had passed in the blink of an eye, and he could only infer that it was because he was so happy to have someone to spar with, that everything just passed him by.

He found Shino in the main classroom. He ran by, grabbing Shino by the hand and pulling him along. Naruto ran all the way to his private training grounds, dragging Shino along the whole way.

Naruto ran all the way over to the middle of the training area and stopped. He stood there for a moment, wondering where Shino was, when suddenly, some coughing from behind him made him turn around. When Naruto turned around, he saw Shino lying on the ground, all dusty and dirty. Shino's right hand was still clutched by Naruto's left hand.

"Oh! Sorry about that Shino, I guess I don't know my own strength," Naruto admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Shino wrenched his hand from Naruto's hand, and stood up. Shino brushed off his pants and jack.

"As much as I would like to say that was enjoyable, Uzumaki-san, please refrain from dragging me to places in the future," stated Shino.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Naruto then smiled brightly. "Alright, time to spar!"

Shino did not answer; he merely walked from Naruto and settled into a stance about 10 feet away.

"Shall we begin?" Shino asked.

Naruto laughed and nodded his head.

"Alright, wait for him to attack, and then you are going to dodge and continuously come at him over and over again. Do not give him a chance to breathe. Strike fast then retreat, then attack from another angle. Use the terrain to your advantage," interjected Menthos just as Naruto began to lift his hands to attack.

Naruto dropped his hands to his sides, and as soon as his hands were completely lowered, Shino attacked. Shino's fist came whistling at Naruto's head, and if Naruto muscles had not gained the speed they had from the _Akachakra_, Naruto's head would have been pulverized. Naruto, to avoid Shino's fist, shifted his weight to his left leg, and collapsed his knee, making himself fall down and also, luckily, making him be able to avoid Shino's roundhouse kick.

Naruto leapt up off of the ground and took two small jumps, landing 10 feet away from Shino.

Naruto grinned. "That was fast, Shino, if I didn't have the speed I have, I would have been done."

Shino nodded. "Thank you for the compliment, Uzumaki-san. That is a new taijutsu I have been developing. It is called _Doutekiken_ (Dynamic Fist). It is taijutsu based exploding from a standstill to quick movement, backed up with immense power. It is quick and effective, or at least I hope it will be."

Naruto smiled and gave Shino a thumbs up. "It will be great, Shino. I am also working on my taijutsu; we can work on our taijutsu skills together."

Shino nodded again, and then, with a burst of speed, rushed towards Naruto.

"Jump up Naruto, and land behind him. Go for a kick to sweep out his feet from under him," advised Menthos.

Naruto, taking Menthos's advice, leapt over Shino's head. He landed behind Shino and performed a sweep kick, trying to knock Shino to the ground.

Shino, an above average taijutsu user, jumped up, making Naruto's kick miss. Shino then kicked backwards, his kick brushing Naruto's hair. Naruto, as he had done before, collapsed onto the ground, and, using his arms, pushed himself far away from Shino.

Naruto landed next to a tree. He then jumped up and pushed off the tree, launching himself at Shino.

Shino dodged Naruto body missile attack and remarked, "That will not work. I have trained myself to be not completely reliant on my family's bug techniques, and thus my taijutsu is on a higher level than most of those our age."

Naruto flipped out of his launch and landed on his feet. "Alright, Shino, I guess we should step this up. You can use your Kikai if you want."

Shino nodded. "I agree; it is time we 'stepped up' our spar."

Naruto smiled, and then put his hands together. He spread them three feet apart, and let chakra flow out from his hands.

"_Akachakra: Buin_." The chakra that had spread between his hands when he had spread them, hardened into a red metal staff.

Shino's eyebrows rose. "Interesting technique, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto smirked. "Yea, I think it's pretty sweet, too."

Naruto swung the staff back and forth, secretly hoping that the staff was not weak. He rushed Shino, swinging his staff like a wild man. Shino jumped backwards, evading Naruto's staff. Naruto feinted swinging at Shino's feet, but swung the other end of the staff at Shino's head. Shino was not quick enough to dodge, and Naruto's strike caught him in the temple.

Naruto felt elated when he hit Shino in the head, although he was also worried that he had hurt Shino. But his elation turned to surprise when Shino's body came apart into millions of little Kikai.

"Surprised? Do not be, it is a basic jutsu that everyone in my clan learns at an early age," stated Shino, jumping out from behind a wooden post.

"Well, I wish I had a fricking clan," muttered Naruto. He then raised his voice. "Whatever, Shino, at least you are taking this seriously. Let's go at it again."

"Hai." Shino bent his knees and extended both his arms, elbows slightly bent, in front of him. "You can attack first this time."

Naruto rushed forward, holding his staff above his head, getting ready to hit Shino with a devastating downward strike. As he got near, Naruto swung his staff, but Shino raised both his hands above his head, forearms crossed. Naruto's strike hit Shino's forearms, and the staff shattered.

Shino quickly swung his arms downward and caught Naruto's foot. Shino then started to spin, pulling Naruto with him.

Naruto was starting to get dizzy very quickly. "Sttttoooopppp, Shhhhhiiinnnooooo!"

Shino suddenly let go. Naruto felt himself fly through the air. A few seconds later, his flight was stopped short by a tree branch.

Naruto landed hard on the ground after his head bounced of the tree branch. Naruto laid on the ground, face down, groaning and moaning in pain.

After a few moments, Naruto got on his hands and knees, grumbling about stupid trees and weak staffs.

"Are you ready to start another round?" asked Shino, who Naruto had not heard sneak up on him.

Naruto shook his head, trying to clear his head of the pain. "Yea, I think I am fine. Whoo! That was sweet, Shino, you totally owned me."

Naruto got back up on his feet and shook his whole body, getting rid of any lingering pain.

"Alright, I am ready. This time, you won't have an easy time beating me, Shino," declared Naruto confidently.

"I hope not," responded Shino.

Naruto jumped up, cocking his fist for a devastating blow. Shino ran forward, raising his arms to intercept Naruto's attack.

"Kick his hands out of the way, and then strike with your fist. Hit his collarbone, force him back for once," advised Menthos, who had been silent for most of the fight.

Naruto gave Menthos a mental nod; ready to follow the advice he was given.

Naruto, instead of punching with his cocked fist, stuck out his leg. Shino, predictably, used his raised arm to knock away Naruto's outstretched luck. The block pushed Naruto's lower body away, pulling his upper body closer to Shino. This made Naruto's punch more damaging. Shino was knocked to the ground and he slid a good 5 feet away from Naruto.

"Well done, Uzumaki-san, this is most invigorating." Shino then settled into his _Doutekiken_ stance once more.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Three weeks passed and Naruto trained every morning, then went to the academy, and afterwards, had a spar with Shino. Both boys started to improve their taijutsu. Shino's technique revolved around landing one big hit, since Shino was bigger and heavier than every other boy his age but Choji. Naruto relied on quick consecutive strikes, and then retreating.

"Come Shino, are you already getting tired?" goaded Naruto.

"Uzumaki-san, I do not have your stamina. I have only enough energy for one more quick round," stated Shino in between his deep breaths.

"Alright, then let's make it a good one," replied Naruto.

Shino nodded in response. Naruto leapt up on top of a wooden post and formed his staff once more. Naruto jumped off the post and rushed for Shino. Shino raised his arms in defense, waiting and looking for an opening to strike.

Naruto, when he neared Shino, swung his staff at Shino's midsection. Shino jumped backwards to avoid Naruto's swing. Naruto smiled, because that is what he wanted Shino to do. He then let go off his staff so that it was flung towards Shino. Shino raised his arms and deflected the staff, which promptly shattered. The shards of the staff dissipated and then Naruto, using the cover of off his staff attack, appeared on Shino's right side and hit Shino in the cheek. Shino went flying.

"Hey, Shino, do you like that. I call that move the _Reisochi_ (Ghost Step)," boasted Naruto.

Shino got up, albeit shakily. "Good job, Uzumaki-san. I must admit defeat. Also, I must be going."

Naruto nodded, when his vision suddenly changed. He could see a whole system of chakra lines that appeared over Shino's body. The chakra was flowing all over the body through some vein-like system. As Shino moved away, the chakra system remained on top of his clothes, allowing Naruto to see where Shino was directing his chakra, if Shino knew how to direct his chakra that is.

"You want to explain this to me, Menthos?" asked Naruto.

"Hmm, well this is quite interesting. You have activated your_Kyuuketsukigan_ at quite an early age."

"So I got my vampire eye, huh?"

"You could say that. Well, it is the lowest level, but you have activated it nonetheless," stated Menthos.

"Alright, now…what do my eyes do?" asked a sheepish Naruto.

"Oh, yes, I had forgotten, I have not taught you about your eyes yet."

"Yea, I know, that's why I asked you," stated Naruto flatly.

"Okay, I guess it is lecture time then. Your _Kyuuketsukigan_ is special. It allows you to see other peoples' chakra pathways above their skin, clothing, etc. You can see where they are moving their chakra, and how much chakra they have flowing through them," Menthos told Naruto.

"That's sweet!"

"Yes, it is, and that's not all. Your eyes, once you raise their level, can neutralize chakra. When someone expels chakra from their hands to do a jutsu, you will be able to neutralize the chakra that is being used for the jutsu."

"That's amazing, I will be unstoppable!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Don't be too cocky, your eyes require chakra and you will only be able to neutralize a certain amount of chakra each time. This means that the person will be able to still the jutsu, but without all the chakra they were originally going to use, the jutsu will be much less powerful. You will send a chakra pulse from your eyes and your eye-sent chakra will neutralize a certain percent of your opponent's chakra," lectured Menthos.

"That is so sweet. I rock," yelled Naruto, jumping up and down.

Quieting down, Naruto then asked another question, "How do I turn them off?"

"Haha, that is easy. Close your eyes and **will** your eyes back to normal."

'_This is so sweet,' _Naruto thought. '_Now I am so much closer to my goal. I hope I activate my other eyes soon, that way I will be ahead of others.'_

Naruto closed his eyes and willed away his eyes. A few seconds of concentration later, he opened his eyes.

"Did it work," he asked Menthos.

"Yes, it worked," answered Menthos. "Enough fun, since you have activated your eyes, it is time to go train."

Naruto cracked his arms and back. Sighing with contentment, he walked over to a wooden post and began his usual training.

* * *

Iruka sighed and put his head on his desk. _Oooh, I hate paperwork_, he moaned inside his head. Iruka started banging his head on the desk. 

"That will cause brain damage," stated a sweet, alluring voice from his doorway.

"Yea, Iru-kun, we don't want that big brain of yours damaged," said a playful, yet insane second voice from beside the first voice.

Iruka brought up his head and saw…Kurenai and Anko. Iruka scrambled up, accidentally knocking some of his papers of his desk. He looked at his papers and then at the two women in his classroom doorway. Iruka sighed and slumped back into his seat, the hard wood providing him with support.

"Are you okay, Iruka?" asked the owner of the first voice, Kurenai.

Iruka looked left and right, checking to make sure there was no other Iruka in the room.

"I meant you, Iruka."

Iruka just stared back at Kurenai, at a loss for words. His main romantic interest was standing before him, and he felt like a total idiot, surrounded by half eaten sandwiches and piles of paperwork.

"Ummm, yea...how is your day going, Kurenai-san, Anko-san?" said a bumbling Iruka. He then clasped his head in his hands. _I bet they think that I am such a loser_, he thought despairingly.

"Iruka, are you okay?" asked Kurenai, again.

Iruka stood up aburptly, brushing off his clothes, trying to put on a professional face. "Ah, yes I am fine. Is there anything you require, Kurenai-san?"

Anko chose that moment to pipe up. "Yea, for you to stop calling us 'san'. Jeez, Iruka, lighten up." In a split second, Anko crossed the room and was press her body against Iruka's body. "Do you need any help lightening up?" Anko asked with a provacative grin on her face.

"N-N-No, I am fine, Anko-san," insisted Iruka. Secretly, he did not want her to know that he was getting turned on.

Iruka pushed Anko away and dropped his hand to loosely cover his groin, hiding the evidence of his lust.

"Stop being so perverted, Anko," said Kurenai, saving Iruka from any more embarrassment.

Turning to Iruka, who was still covering his groin, she said, "Iruka, the Hokage requires our presence. We are to report to him immediately."

"Yea, and since we didn't know if you knew, Kurenai-chan here-" Anko slid up behind Kurenai and gripped said woman around her middle. "-wanted to make sure you got the notice. Isn't that so sweet of Kurenai-chan, Iru-kun?"

Iruka loosened his collar and cleared his throat...several times. "Ah, yes...it was very nice of you Kurenai-san. Well, ummm, we should go to that meeting...right?"

Kurenai nodded her head. Anko, ever bubbly and loud, yelled, "Alright! LET'S GO!"

With that, both women disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Iruka buried his face in his hands. He was so ashamed of himself. He couldn't even hold a conversation with the two objects of his affections. Iruka groaned, knowing if he had to talk to those two women any more, he would either jump their bones in second, or find himself acting like a bumbling fool for the rest of eternity. Sighing deeply, Iruka lowered his hands from his face and jumped out of the classroom window.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Iruka raced over the rooftops, eager to find out why the Hokage was calling a meeting. The Hokage tower was on the other side of town, and even running at an average pace, it took Iruka a few minutes to reach the tower.

Iruka walked through the front, waved a curt hello at the secretary, and walked up to the Hokage's office. Giving a courtesy knock, Iruka opened the door and walked in. He gently closed the door behind him and bowed to the Hokage.

"Come now, Iruka, how long have we known each other for. Almost 20 years, and you still bow to this old man," joked the Hokage.

Iruka straightened, and smiled. "Hokage-sama, I will always bow to you, whether you wish it or not."

The Hokage smiled back at him.

"Ahh-sorry to break up the moment, but what is the purpose of this meeting?" said Asuma, who was leaning against a wall, smoking as always.

Iruka took a moment to look around the room and saw Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, Anko, and a few other jounins.

"Hokage-sama, this is a meeting of jounins, why am I present?" asked Iruka.

The Hokage smiled his all knowing smile. "Iruka, you are the teacher of this year's graduating class. You are here to present your opinion on what the others say."

Iruka nodded. Secretly, he was elated, the Hokage actually cared what he thought about the upcoming genin-to-be.

The Hokage stood up, hands clasped behind his back. "This year we have a promising class. Iruka, can you give us some information about the best and brightest in your class."

Iruka nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama. The class is very promising. At the top we have Uchiha Sasuke. He is the best at the practical and theory of ninja arts. Sasuke fights predominately with his Uchiha clan taijutsu.

"No one can expect any less of the Uchiha genius," boasted some jounin from behind Iruka.

Iruka ignored the man and continued. "Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all are promising genin-to-be. Sakura is brilliant in theory, but she has very low chakra reserves and, just like Ino, chases Uchiha Sasuke, devoting all her time to being a fan-girl."

Iruka gave a slight grin when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi shudder.

Iruka then went back to his explanation. "Ino is average, using her family techniques to augment her abilities. She is also a fan-girl, but, just like Sakura, has potential. Hinata, on the other hand, is the strongest of the three, but she lacks confidence. She has no killer instincts, and no aggressiveness. She spends her time learning about healing herbs and medicines. My opinion is that she would make a great medic-nin, worthy of comparison with Tsunade-sama."

Iruka turned and paced for a minute. Everyone else in the room waited respectfully.

"Kiba…Kiba is a team player. He is the ideal teammate. He has the pack mentality. Kiba gets along very well, with Shino. Those two would be ideal teammates. Also, Kiba, like Naruto, is usually very outgoing and can bring Hinata out of her shell with his friendship. Shino, on the other hand, is very quiet, but he is very accepting. Shino does not judge, and he gets along with almost everyone."

Iruka stopped pacing. "Lastly, Naruto is also average in the class. He has improved more this year than he ever has before. He sits quietly in class and listens. Naruto is also getting better at sparring and better with his accuracy. He has improved a lot."

With that, Iruka bowed to the Hokage, signaling that he was done.

"Thank you, Iruka. I just wanted your input to go to the head of these jounin who will each be getting a team. Thank you all for coming," said the Hokage.

Iruka bowed once more, and then walked out of the Hokage's office. As he was leaving, Anko latched on to his arm.

"Let's go for some dinner, Iru-kun!" yelled the boisterous Anko.

Iruka groaned.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Iruka sat down in the booth seat of a well-to-do restaurant, his face as red as a ripe tomato. Anko had taken it upon herself to tease him the entire way to the restaurant. Kurenai was also with him and Anko on this outing, and she had merely walked with them, not stopping Anko's teasing. Having both women with him, made Iruka blush twice as hard as he normally would.

"Alright, Iru-kun! What are you going to eat?" asked a cheerful Anko.

"Yes, Iruka, what are you going to order?" chimed in Kurenai.

Iruka looked left and right, staring at both Anko and Kurenai. "Uhhh-"

"-Well, I am getting dango and lots of sake," interrupted Anko. "Today will be a great night."

Iruka just looked back and forth Anko and Kurenai some more.

"I think I will order some shrimp and water. I don't wish to eat too much," said Kurenai.

Anko slapped Kurenai on the back good naturedly. "Don't worry about the money Kurenai-chan. Eat as much as you want. Iruka will pay the bill, so pig out."

Kurenai looked at Iruka, as if unsure of what Anko said.

Iruka sighed. "Yes, I will pay the bill, so no worries."

Both Kurenai and Anko smiled at him.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Iruka woke up with the harsh sun glaring into his now open eyes. He raised his arm to shield himself from the harsh sunlight, when he suddenly realized…he was wearing no clothes. Iruka was confused; he always slept in his pj's. A soft moan from his right drew his attention to another fact…there were two women in a bed with him…and they were naked also.

Iruka held his breath, staying extremely still. He did not want to wake the women, who still appeared to be sleeping. Iruka looked around and realized it was neither his bed nor his house. Moving slowly and quite cautiously, Iruka got out of the bed and grabbed his clothes. He took one last look at the women he had slept with and quickly, yet quietly left the house.

Once outside the house, Iruka stopped and tried to imprint every single emotion he was feeling into his brain. He had done it. He had actually slept with Kurenai and Anko, and it was apparently a threesome. Iruka breathed deep the fresh morning air, smiling like he was on top of the world. Iruka took one last look at the house and hoped that Anko and Kurenai would think that they had slept with each other and not him. This way, he wouldn't get hurt. _I hope they don't find out it was me. First of all they would hurt me, and second of all…who would want to be with a lowly chuunin if she or actually they both are as hot as Kurenai and Anko are. Damn, I wish I didn't like my job so much, then I could actually move up the ranks then_, he thought. Iruka took another last look at the house and then slowly walked away.

* * *

Kakashi watched as Iruka, Kurenai, Anko, Asuma, and the other jounin filed out of the room. After they left, he turned to the Hokage.

"You asked me to stay, Hokage-sama. Why?" he asked.

The Hokage stood up and walked around his desk, until he was right in front of Kakashi. "Kakashi, I know you want Uchiha Sasuke on your team, but I am reluctant to assign him to you."

Kakashi was shocked and confused. "Why? There is no other jounin more qualified, Hokage-sama, and you know that."

The Hokage smiled. "I know Kakashi. You are one of the most capable in the force. But, you are blinded by Uchiha Obito. His death still haunts you. You are blinded, and that is not good, not good at all."

Kakashi was angry now. He had made a promise to Obito to look after the Uchiha, and he intended to make good on that promise.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, that is bullshit! I made a promise to Obito, and this way I can fulfill it," he growled.

The Hokage reached out and touched Kakashi's shoulder. "I know you made that promise. But, do you ever think, that you are biased. You made that promise, and I know, that even as good a man as you are, you will coddle Sasuke. You will favor him over others, which is a mistake I once made. I once favored Orochimaru over Jaraiya. That is one of the worst mistakes I have ever made. Jaraiya, although full of faults, is loyal to me, loyal to Konoha, and loyal to his friends. He stayed and protected this village, while Orochimaru is off somewhere, desecrating bodies. You will do the same, I fear it is inevitable."

"No, I will remain fair, I will not coddle Sasuke," protested Kakashi.

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, walked back around his desk and slumped heavily in his chair.

"You know, Kakashi, I am going to let you in on a little secret," began Sarutobi. "Team 7 is cursed. My team 7 had the mysterious Orochimaru, loved and favored by all. We accepted anything he said as truth, because he was simply who he was. There was Tsunade, the lovable fan-girl. She is now great, but back then, she followed around Orochimaru like a lost dog. He, of course, shunned her. Lastly, there was Jaraiya. He was the lovable idiot. He trained hard, nothing was handed to him. We always believed Orochimaru over him, and yet he persevered. Jaraiya loved, and may still does love, Tsunade. He pursued her like the he was the plague. But, she ignored him, hurt him, threw him away for…Orochimaru. Orochimaru never returned her advances and he eventually left. Orochimaru left, Tsunade is god knows where, and only Jaraiya, once shunned, remains to help us. "

Sarutobi turned his chair to look out of the window. "Then, there is your team 7, lead by Minato. You were the mysterious masked boy, loved and favored by all. You were always heeded, and everyone helped you in any way possible. Rin was your teammate, the lovable fan-girl. She followed you like a lost dog. She grew up to be a great shinobi, but back then she was a simple fan-girl. You, of course, shunned her. Obito, the lovable idiot, was your last teammate. He trained hard, nothing was handed to him. He was Uchiha, but of a branch family, not so highly revered. He loved Rin. He pursued her like he was the plague. But, she ignored him, hurt him, threw him away for…you. You have not left, but you have become aloof, shunning friends, always reading your porn. Rin is god knows where, and If I were you, I would be hoping that she comes back one day, so that you may show her that you love her."

Kakashi backed up a few steps. The Hokage was completely and utterly right about his team 7.

"I know Hokage-sama. I pray, every night, that she comes back one day. I would love her and never let her go, but I wasted my chance," cried Kakashi, burying his face in his hands.

"This year's team 7 will be Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto. Sasuke is like you, cool and aloof. He shuns Sakura, the fan-girl. Naruto loves Sakura, but she refuses his advances, waiting for Sasuke, who will never accept her, to accept her. They will fall prey to the curse of team 7, thus I cannot let you lead them. I cannot let you make the same mistake I and Minato did. The mistake of coddling the cold, aloof, mysterious boy, who is, was, raised on a pedestal by all others for no reason, except that he has a highly favored clan name," stated the Hokage.

Kakashi looked up, a pleading look on his face, and asked, "Please Hokage-sama, give them to me. I will break the curse of team 7, I will lead them all equally, I promise."

The Hokage peered into his eyes, staring long and hard. "I see you are serious, Kakashi, and thus I will consider it. I will let you know in a month's time."

Kakashi nodded and leapt out of the office window. Landing on the ground outside of Hokage Tower, Kakashi slowly started to walk home, not even bothering to pull out his Icha Icha Paradise.

_I have failed you Obito, I have not helped Sasuke at all. I have left him alone to fester in his pain, but no longer, I swear it,_ thought Kakashi.

Kakashi walked to his apartment and went inside. He instantly went to his bed and lied down.

_Come back to me, Rin, please come back_, he thought despairingly.

* * *

He sat on a large slab of stone. His legs were crossed and his hands were inside his sleeves. He felt truly at peace. He had been sitting and thinking for quite some time.

Humanity, he surmised, had not grown, not changed one bit in the hundred years he had been alive. Humans still preyed on one another without mercy. Humans just took and took, and never gave. Humans took from each other almost as much as they took from nature. Humanity was a small festering, untreated wound. They got only worse, never better. That's why he never left any remorse, any guilt when he killed humans like they were livestock.

Pushing aside his thoughts, he brought himself back to the task at hand. He breathed deep the fresh woodland air. The air was fresh, smelling like dirt, plants, and wood. The air flowed past, above, and around him. It was invigorating, smelling air that was not tainted by an overpopulation of humans.

He shifted on his rock. The sun beating down on him was hot, making his black and red cloak unbearable. The sun's heat irritated him, but it helped him grow, as it helped nature grow.

Suddenly, the scent of a human floated towards him, coming closer and closer.

"Friend! Are we going to play today?" a small, cute voice asked from his right side.

Zetsu opened his eyes, and turned his head to face the owner of the voice. The little girl who called him friend stood there. Looking at her cemented his hatred of humanity, she was a skeleton, made up of bones and a small amount of flesh. She was malnourished, and even the months, two or three months, he wasn't sure, she had spent traveling with him did not complete erase her impoverished past.

"We must move. I must get you and your mother to the village. You will be taken care of there," he told her.

The little girl's mother came up behind the little girl and hugged the little girl.

"We need to r-r-rest, w-w-we don't h-have your s-stamina," stammered the mother.

Zetsu looked at the mother. "I will think of some way for us to make it there. Go…rest some more."

Zetsu watched the mother and child walk away. He then closed his eyes and went back to his thinking. It had been two or so months since he had rescued his 'friend' and her mother. He had saved them from poverty, but the situation was not getting better. Traveling long distances with a little girl was a hassle, and if the day was good, Zetsu and his little group crossed 20 miles.

Sighing, Zetsu fully comprehended the futility of his rescue operation. He wanted to get the little girl and her mother to Konoha, the most prosperous of the hidden villages. The trouble not only included traveling, but also not getting caught by Konoha-nin. Zetsu, for the first time in his life, was worried about someone other than himself. If he didn't get the two into Konoha, the little girl and her mother were as good as dead.

"You know, if you need help, you only have to ask," stated a voice from behind him.

Zetsu swiveled around on his rock and found himself facing Kensei, the sword saint.

"What are you doing here, sword saint?" asked Zetsu.

Kensei laughed. "Zetsu, you are still as curt as ever. Haha. Well, actually, I saw you and decided to drop by and give you a hand. If you need to get the little girl and her mother to someplace, I can take them."

"**And why would you do that? What is your motive?**" asked Zetsu's black half, which had been awfully silent for a very long time.

Kensei stopped his chuckling. "I am here to help Zetsu. You are part of The Nine, as am I. Also, I have a wife and two daughters, and thus I value female life very highly. I cannot let those who need my help go…for the lack of better words, not helped."

"You would do that for them? **You may be part of The Nine, but I do not trust you**," growled Zetsu.

Kensei walked forward a few steps. "I am a samurai, first and foremost. I live by an honor code, and I swear by my honor to escort these two anywhere you want me to take them. If it puts you at ease, you can follow with you nature absorption thing…"

"I can trust him. He can help me," said Zetsu's white half.

"**We cannot trust him, we can trust no one, or have you forgotten**," growled Zetsu's black half.

"I have not forgotten, but it is time I moved on."

"**Move on…that incident gives us the power to do what we do. You would just throw that away?**"

"I have more power. That incident gives me little power, nature is the true source of my power."

"**Fine, but we will kill him and feast on his flesh if he tries to pull anything.**"

"So, we have an agreement," chimed in Kensei.

Zetsu looked up and stared hard into Kensei's eyes. "Yes, we have an agreement. But remember, hell awaits you if you betray me."

Kensei held up his hands in a placating manner. "Don't worry." Kensei pointed at himself. "Honor code, remember?"

Zetsu said nothing. He just got up and walked over to the little girl and her mother.

"Time to go."

**.oOoOoOo.**

"We are here," announced Kensei, waving his arms at Konoha's entrance gate.

The woman, named Kaeko, and her daughter, named Yume, both smiled when they saw the huge gate of Konoha.

Zetsu floated through the essence of the plants and trees, watching over Kensei and the two females. He stopped abruptly when he saw talking to the gate guards.

"Who are you and what is your business in Konoha," asked the first guard.

Kensei smiled and held out a small passport. "I am Kensei, and this my sister and her daughter. They have come from an impoverished village in the Land of Tea. I am here to buy them an apartment and find my sister a job."

The guard looked through the passport and then nodded to Kensei and his companions.

In his nature state, Zetsu gave a mental breathe of relief. _They will be safe now. I must give them the money also though,_ thought Zetsu.

Zetsu followed the little group as they wandered all over town. Eventually, Kensei found the two females an apartment in a simple, low rent apartment building. Zetsu was a little worried though; the apartment next to Kaeko's was a rundown apartment with graffiti all over it. It seemed as someone unwanted lived next door.

After the group entered the apartment and closed the door, Zetsu materialized.

"This is a good place, for now. I will also get you a job," stated Zetsu, causing Kaeko and Yume to flinch at his random appearance.

Kensei nodded, waved goodbye and disappeared. Zetsu gave Kensei a mental thank you, something he would never admit, for getting Kaeko and Yume into village. Zetsu knew he would be able to take over from here with a simple _henge_. He could have used a _henge_ to get his girls, another thing he would not admit, that they were his girls, and gotten them into Konoha, but he had no passport.

"Ready to go get a job, Kaeko?" asked Zetsu.

Kaeko meekly nodded.

"Good, also on the search, I will open a bank account for you and deposit 100,000 ryo under your name," he stated.

Kaeko and Yume gasped, never even having heard of that much money before, he knew.

Yume then jumped forward and hugged him. "Thank you, friend!"

"Let's go."

* * *

"Are you ready to give up, Konan? I have kept you here for quite a while, and if you accept my proposition, I may release you," said Dageki.

He was standing in a dark cell, with only a little candle in the corner for light. Chained to the wall and floor in front of him was Konan. He had technically kidnapped her and kept her prisoner.

"Never bastard!" replied Konan, her voice hoarse from disuse.

"Tch tch tch. You are a bad girl, Konan. Such language." Dageki shook his head. "Such language should not be uttered by a lady."

Konan glared at him. The glare made Dageki want to laugh. The little girl actually thought she could hurt him. It was quite the laughing matter.

"Well, maybe another month or so in this hell cell will loosen you up," he stated as he strode out of the cell, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

AN: 

Alright, that was chapter two. If you guys are thinking Naruto is getting a little too strong too quickly, you are right, he is. But never fear, this story is not super naruto. It is super naruto tragedy. There are huge twists coming up.

Like: Naruto getting seriously hurt. Naruto finds a sword that devours souls. Naruto goes crazy. Life goes down the shithole.

Also, I wish I had more reviews for this story, I am getting pissed. I am not the greatest writer, but I have seen shitty, shitty writers who should quit getting 500 some reviews. Great writers have like 6 chaps, 40,000 words and 152 reviews. Shitty, f-class writers with like 10 chaps 25,000 words have like 562 reviews, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

AN added 10/27/07: Alright guys, I am unhappy with my chapter lengths and writing quality. I believe that my updating every week cuts down on my plot and my quality. Thus, next update will be in two weeks. I want to improve so that my story is worth reading and so i have an actual reading worthy plot.


	3. Betrayal?

Final Pairings:  
Naruto- Ino, Tenten, Temari, FemHaku, Sakura. -WARNING this is not a usual harem fic. Naruto will not be happily married or anything to all these girls at the same time, he might be though, undecided. These are girls he will have romances with, and some of them he will probably marry, but that comes later.  
Iruka- Kurenai, Anko  
Kakashi- Rin, Shizune  
Shino-Ayame  
Kiba-Hinata  
Jiraiya-Tsunade

Yes, I have made some changes to the harem. Also, the final pairing for Naruto is Ino, Temari, Tenten, and Sakura. The pairings will come into light next chapter. Something interesting happens with Haku, so just watch for it.

And for those who asked, I don't remember if I have already answered this, but this will be a multiple point of view fic. Mostly, I go with Naruto, but even then, I switch between third person and first person pov. That is just my style. Also, some other people, such as Shikamaru and others will get their own little space in the chapters.

* * *

**Right Before Your Eyes**

* * *

"_The boy is unsuspecting, he realizes nothing_," said a smooth, slick voice. 

"**Good. It will soon be time for my re-emergence," **replied a deep, gravelly voice.

"_Yes, I know, I have been prepping the boy so that you may use his body_," said the first voice.

He was confused, who were the two voices and better yet, who were the two voices talking about?

"**You have replaced the chakra already?**" asked the second voice.

Whose chakra? He was doubly confused now. These were not good voices, they seemed to be talking about bodies, which in his experience, never was a good thing.

"_Yes, I taught him how to remove his regular chakra, then I made him fill his chakra pools with your chakra_," stated the first voice.

Regular chakra? Refilling? What was going on? It sounded like they were talking about him. He had replaced his regular chakra. What if they were talking about him?!

"**Good, then by the time I take over his pathetic body, I will be able to use my chakra unhindered.**"

"_Yes, but what else must I do?_"

If they were talking about his body, the grumbling voice wanted to take his body over. That was not a good thing, not a good thing at all.

"**Teach him more; I will not have a body that is defenseless. Also, do not let the fool find out about this.**"

"_He does not suspect a thing. He actually believes that I am helping him because of his Kyuuketsukigan and Shounetsujigokugan._"

Wait! Those were his bloodline traits. If those were his, then they had to be talking about his body! He was scared now. The two voices seemed to be powerful and already had a plan.

"**The Vampire Eye and the Burning Hell Eye are his bloodline traits, but you are only half correct. The **_**Kyuuketsukigan**_** is his, but the **_**Shounetsujigokungan**_** is mine. I will activate it soon, however there will be complications.**"

"_Really? What complications will arise?_"

"**The Vampire Eye and the Burning Hell Eye are not meant to be contained within the same body. The two eyes will fight. Sometimes they will work in conjunction, other times he will only have access to one or the other. Also, sometimes he will be able to access neither, and sometimes they will cause his body to weaken and break down. His power, at least until I take over, will be erratic and unstable.**"

"_Interesting. Well, I don't care what happens to the fool as long as you fulfill your end of the bargain._"

"**Do not worry, fool, I will provide you your body.**"

The two voices faded away and he was left to his musings. He was certain it was his body they were talking about, but he could not be sure. He did not even recognize either of the two voices. They could be talking about anyone. And if it wasn't him, then it meant another person also had his bloodlines, meaning he or she was related to him.

However, his elation at realizing he might have a relative diminished. One was his bloodlines was not a real bloodline, and furthermore, if the person they were talking about was him, he would have erratic power. He would be unstable. He might as well give up, he was certain of his doom.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Naruto cracked open his eyes and stared at his ceiling. The dream that he was certain was not a dream, seemed to forecast downfall for him. He rose slowly off his bed, and stumbled to his bathroom.

Soon after entering his bathroom, he found himself facing the mirror. Blood red pupils stared back at him. Each blood red eye had a vertical and horizontal black band going through it, making it appear as if his eyes had been split into four equal pieces.

Naruto sighed. He had his vamp eyes, but he had yet to gain his burning eyes. Truth be told, he did not look forward to activating his_Shounetsujigokugan_. If the dream was true, the burning eyes would cause more trouble than good.

Naruto sighed again, closed his eyes, and willed away his special eyes. It was time to get ready go to the academy, and he did not want to be late. If he left in a few minutes, he would have enough time for breakfast.

Following his plan, Naruto walked out of his apartment a few minutes later and decided to head over to his favorite ramen stand.

As he walked down the street to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, he tried to keep his eyes on the road. He tried to ignore all the pointed stares and glares the villagers. He tried to ignore the whispers, the words of hate.

"Look at the demon, how dare he walk so brazenly down our streets."

"Stay away from him, Mochi, he's bad news. He will kill you if you get too close."

"Oh, Imoka, there's that demon boy. The villagers warned me to stay away from him."

"Don't worry, honey, I will protect you."

Naruto could stop his fists from clenching and it took all of his self-control to not start sprinting down the road. He kept his head held high and acted like he could not hear the villagers.

He kept at a slow pace, and soon thereafter, he reached the ramen stand._Damn bastard villagers. I will make sure you get what's coming to you one day_, thought Naruto savagely. He walked over to a stool and plopped down on it.

Ichiraku, the owner of the ramen stand, walked over to him.

"Hello, Naruto. How is your day going so far?" asked Ichiraku.

"Okay," responded a despondent Naruto. The day was anything but okay, but he did not want to trouble Ichiraku.

Ayame then wandered over and smiled at him.

"Is there anything you want to eat, Naruto-kun?" she asked him.

Naruto nodded his head, putting on his cheerful mask. He did not want to burden his two favorite people with his problems.

"Some miso-ramen, please!" he all but yelled.

Ichiraku and Ayame both smiled at him, and turned away, going back to their cooking.

Naruto inwardly gave a true smile. Ichiraku and Ayame had been there for him all his life, and they were very important to him. If he ever stopped eating ramen, which was as likely as hell freezing over, he would drop by anyway and eat some ramen out of respect.

Naruto, becoming almost immediately bored, started to look around. He was scanning the ramen stand when he noticed there were three people cooking, instead of the usual two, Ichiraku and Ayame.

"Hey, Ayame-chan, who is she?" asked Naruto, pointing to the third cook, a pretty woman with long blue hair and blue eyes.

Ayame and the new woman turned to face him.

Ayame put a hand on the blue haired woman's shoulder. "This is Kaeko, Naruto-kun. She is the newest addition to our ramen stand."

Naruto turned to Kaeko and gave her a big smile. "Hello, I am Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's future Hokage and greatest shinobi."

The woman gave him a small smile. "That is a great dream. I am Kaeko, I just recently moved here from Wave country."

Her voice was calm, soothing, and very quiet. Naruto had to strain to hear her, but once he did, he thought her voice sounded like the voice of an angel.

"Kaeko-san, it is a pleasure to meet you," he stated jumping across the counter to bow to Kaeko. It was called manners or politeness or something like that. Menthos had taught him to be a gentleman to the ladies.

Kaeko bowed back, a meek smile spread across her face. "It is a pleasure to meet you too, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto then jumped back across the counter and sat on his stool.

"So, what brings you to Konoha?" he asked casually.

Kaeko's small smile disappeared. "I-I came here for a better life. Also, I came here to find a doctor to heal my daughter."

Naruto's face lit up. Kaeko had a daughter, maybe she was his age.

"Where is your daughter, Kaeko-san?" inquired Naruto.

Ayame squeezed Kaeko's shoulder. "I will go get her, Kaeko-san. I believe she will love to meet Naruto."

Kaeko smiled and watched as Ayame went out through the back door of the ramen stand. Naruto watched Kaeko, wondering why she was really here. He had gotten the impression that she was hiding something, but other than that, Kaeko seemed like a really nice person.

Ayame returned with a small holding her hand. The girl looked to be around eight or nine, with long brown hair and slightly dusky skin.

Ayame pointed to the little girl. "Naruto, this is Yume, Kaeko-san's daughter."

Naruto noticed Kaeko smiling as she looked at Yume, and he wondered if his mother had ever smiled at him, at least when she had been alive. He turned back to Yume and waved. Yume's eyes squinted as she looked at him, but she did not wave back.

Naruto cocked his head, confused. Most children, at least before their parents told them to stay away, liked him.

Kaeko must have noticed his confusion as she moved a little closer to Yume. "Yume, Uzumaki-san is waving to you, you should wave back."

The little girl nodded and started to wave back at a furious pace. Ayame led the little girl around the counter and Naruto got off his stool and bent down to Yume's eye level, which truth be told, was only about 6 inches below his.

"Hello, Yume-chan, how are you?" he asked.

Yume peered at him closely, and that was when he noticed the thin, milky layer of film covering her eyes. He rocked back on his heels. Yume was blind, or at least close to blind.

Yume then jumped at him and hugged him hard, exclaiming, "Friend!"

Naruto was shocked. No one ever hugged him, or called him friend. Even Shino was more of a sparring buddy than a friend. He slowly, in a zombie-like state, put his arms around Yume and hugged her back, hard.

"Friend," he stated.

Naruto was amazed; he had not expected to make a random friend when he had woken up that morning. He looked up and saw the smiling faces of Ayame and Kaeko. Naruto started to smile also.

A few seconds later, the little girl disengaged herself from his arms. She then back up and looked down at the ground, as if she was embarrassed.

"Are you my friend?" Yume asked quietly.

Naruto, for some unknown reason desperately wanted to be her friend, so he grabbed her arm and pulled her into another hug.

"Yes, I am your friend," he answered. He felt his earlier dreariness disappear, and a new feeling replaced it. He could almost say that he felt…happy. Truly happy, not fake happy.

"Aren't you happy, Yume-chan, you have made another friend," said Kaeko.

Naruto let go of Yume and backed up a step. Yume had a bright smile on her face. Naruto felt happy that Yume felt happy.

"Wanna play, friend?" asked Yume with her cute, innocent voice.

Naruto desperately wished he didn't have to go to the academy, but he had to, and he could not be late, the exam was in two days.

"I wish I could, Yume-chan, but I must go to the academy. I have to study for the genin exam." He watched as Yume's smile disappeared. "But we can eat some ramen together!" he finished brightly.

Yume smiled and nodded her head. Naruto helped her get on a stool and then sat right next to her. Ichiraku, as if foreseeing the turn of events, brought out three bowls for Naruto and one bowl for Yume. Yume happily stirred her bowl around, playing with her food, while Naruto started scarfing down his food as soon as it was put before him.

Ichiraku and Ayame chuckled, while Kaeko watched in obvious amazement. Naruto gave the others no thought and continued to devour his precious ramen. It was Kami's gift to man, and he sure as hell wasn't going to waste it. Ramen was simply indescribable. Naruto wished he had a bigger vocabulary, then he would have been able to explain the godliness of ramen to himself, but he shrugged aside that thought and continued to eat…like an animal.

"Why are you eating like that, friend?" asked Yume from beside him.

He had noticed her watching him eat, and had decided it was high time she learned about the god of all foods: ramen.

"Well, this here is ramen. Ramen is the greatest food on Earth! It is so good; I feel my mouth water whenever I think of it! It is too good, eat yours, you will love it forever, or I will be your slave for my entire life!" ranted Naruto.

Little Yume only laughed and started to eat her ramen. She soon was mimicking Naruto and devouring her ramen at an astonishing pace.

Naruto merely nodded his head; glad he could bring another to the halls of ramen worship.

Thus time passed, and Naruto realized that it was time for him to depart for the academy. He said goodbye to Ichiraku and Ayame. He turned to Yume, hugged her and promised to come back and play with her later. Naruto then started to walk away, but before he got more than 20 feet away, Kaeko caught up to him and stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"I just wanted to thank you for your kindness," stated Kaeko, while bowing and thanking Naruto profusely.

Naruto was surprised. "Don't thank me, Yume is a great girl. I would love to be friends with her."

Kaeko gave a shy smile and nodded. "She is a great girl, but in Wave, everyone, or at least the kids, picked on her. I am slowly gaining hope that there are people who will accept her, with all her faults and disabilities."

"There is nothing wrong with Yume-chan. The others are disabilities if they cannot see how great a person she is," growled Naruto. "I will be her friend forever. That is a promise of a lifetime."

Kaeko stepped back, smiling, and bowed to him. "Thank you, I have regained my hope. Thank you, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto nodded to her and then set off at a light jog. He passed through the central market district, ignoring the glares of the vendors, his mind thinking only about how nice Yume and Kaeko were.

Soon thereafter, he arrived at the academy. He tried to creep in silently, through the door, and find his seat, but he was accosted at the entrance by Iruka. Iruka grabbed his collar, dragging him outside the classroom, shutting the door.

"Naruto, how come you are late? Normally, you are always late, but this year, you have been on time and you have paid attention in class. What happened today? Is anything wrong?" asked a concerned Iruka, worry etched onto his face.

Naruto smiled, touched that Iruka cared for him that much. "Everything is okay, Iruka-sensei. I just met the new cook at the ramen stand, and I stayed to play with the cook's little daughter."

Scratching the back of his head, he then sheepishly admitted, "I kinda lost track of time."

Iruka looked relieved. "Oh, that's all. That's okay then, as long as you are okay. Let's get back inside; it is time to start the day's lessons."

**.oOoOoOo.**

Naruto watched as Shino ran up to him.

"I am here, Uzumaki-san. I have limited time today, therefore I will only be able to spar for one round," stated Shino.

Naruto nodded. "Alright, that's fine Shino. We should start then, I don't want to waste time."

Shino merely shifted his glasses and got into his _doutekiken_ stance. Naruto cracked his neck and then his knuckles and shifted into the basic _mokuzen_ stance.

Naruto moved his right arm in a circular motion above his head and then down to his chest, drawing Shino's attention to his arm. Then suddenly he shifted, striking with his right leg, and punching with his left hand.

As he kicked and punched, Naruto yelled, "_Akachakra Hosaki_ (Red Chakra Flame Tips)." One streak of red flame shot out of his left fist and another from his right foot. Shino, who was still in his stance ten feet away, ducked and rolled to the right.

Naruto, seeing Shino caught off guard, rushed forward to press his advantage. Shino remained on the ground, catching his breath. As Naruto neared Shino, he got ready to kick Shino in the stomach. He kicked, but he did not connect. _What the hell_, thought Naruto, two seconds before he realized that Shino had grabbed his right ankle with both hands, stopping his kick.

"You should seen past illusions, Uzumaki-san," stated Shino.

Then Shino tugged, hard, with both hands, causing Naruto to fall on the ground. Shino launched himself off the ground, still holding Naruto's ankle, and swung Naruto into the nearest wooden post. Naruto's face met the wooden post at a high speed. Shino let go of Naruto, as Naruto slid down the post, getting splinters in his face.

Naruto rolled over, rubbing his face, also slightly watching Shino back up. "That hurt Shino. I think you may have ruined my perfect face. What will my fan-girls say?" commented Naruto.

Naruto laughed as Shino graced him with a small smile. Naruto got back up on his feet and got ready to continue the fight.

"Ready to go some more Shino?" he asked.

"Let us continue," came the reply.

Naruto visualized his staff, and started to utilize his chakra. "_Akachakra Buin._" A red staff materialized in his hand. "Remember this Shino? Well, if you have, I will jog your memory."

Naruto began to run towards Shino, as he twirled his staff above his head. As he reached Shino, who was still not moving, Naruto brought down his staff, faking a blow to Shino's shoulder. Shino fell to the ruse and moved to Naruto's left to avoid the blow. Naruto, expecting this reaction, quickly took one more step and hit Shino in the back with a sideswipe. Shino staggered forward. Naruto, quickly taking the opportunity, jabbed Shino in the knee. Shino fell to his knees as Naruto swung one more time, hitting Shino on the shoulder, knocking the bug user to the ground.

Naruto, smiling in light of his small victory, jumped back a few steps, making sure Shino could not grab him and retaliate.

Shino slowly got up, brushing the shoulders of his jacket. "That was well done, Uzumaki-san," congratulated Shino.

"Thanks," replied a smiling Naruto. "Let's keep going."

Naruto started to rush Shino again, but Shino quickly brought up his hands and made a few handseals.

"I hope you like this jutsu, it is an original," said Shino. "_Kakaimure_ (Bug Swarm)."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, as bugs, hundreds of them, flew out from under Shino's jacket, heading straight for him. Naruto turned around and tried to run away. He ran close to a wooden post and jumped on top, and as he was preparing to jump again, he was hit by the giant mass of Kakai. He fell over, off of the post, hitting the ground hard. To add on to that damage, his staff turned back into red chakra and was absorbed by the Kakai, which promptly flew back to Shino.

"What the hell was that?" asked Naruto as he got up.

"My Kakai not only knock my opponent down, but they also drain some of his chakra. It is a technique I created to combat your _akachakra_ techniques," answered Shino.

"Well, that's great. Now I have to spend time finding a way to combat your bugs," complained Naruto.

Shino smiled a small smile and attacked Naruto. Naruto dodged the first punch, which was aimed for his head. He then blocked the second punch with his forearm. A third punch came towards his head, but stopped short. Shino stopped his punch, instantaneously dropped down, and sweeped Naruto's feet from out of under him. Naruto landed hard, hitting his head on the ground.

"Ompf," grunted Naruto as he hit the ground. He struggled to get up and then opted to stay on the ground. "Okay. I think I am done for today. Hitting the ground has given me a huge headache."

"Yes, I think I must be leaving too. It was a good spar, Uzumaki-san. I will see you tomorrow," said Shino as he walked away, heading to his house.

Naruto remained on the ground for a few more moments, before staggering to his feet.

"Training time, Naruto. I may have left you alone all day, but it is time we got back on schedule. I have much more to teach you," stated Menthos, talking to Naruto for the first time since his dream.

Naruto was wary of Menthos, but he could not deny he needed more training. "Uhhhh. Alright, bring it on, Menthos," groaned a tired Naruto. He blinked his eyes and shook his head, getting rid of his minor headache. "Yup, better now, let's start. So what's first?"

"I think you have been lax in your taijutsu training," stated Menthos.

"Nooo," groaned Naruto, desperately wishing he didn't have to do more taijutsu training.

"Groan and moan all you want, but you are going to do it anyway," Menthos told him smugly.

Naruto scowled and jogged over to a wooden post. He started from the beginning-light punches and kicks- and grudgingly started his training regimen.

"Good, start light, and then move up until you are punching with all your Kyuubi-enhanced strength."

Naruto gave Menthos a mental nod and continued hitting the wooden post, in the same exact spot everytime.

"Why do I do this anyway? Why do I have to hit the same exact spot everytime?" asked Naruto.

"Because you are stupid and your aim is horrible," replied Menthos. "And, truthfully, it is because, if you can hit the same spot everytime, next time in a fight you will not pay much attention to where you are hitting the other person. Your body will remember it, and thus you can pay more attention to creating random variations and catching your opponent off guard."

"Oh," replied Naruto. He nodded to himself and continued to strike with his right fist then his left, and then his right leg followed by his left leg. It was fairly monotonous, but if it made him a better fighter, Naruto was prepared to suck it up and do as he was told.

Naruto continued striking the post for a few more minutes before he started to moving in a circle around the post, continuing his punches and kickes.

"This is copied from Baguazhang, a style not used anymore by shinobi. You move in a circular motion, never stopping your strikes, crunching everything with your legs as they cross over each other as you move," lectured Menthos.

Naruto listened as he did his training, trying to memorize everything Menthos told him. Someday, he knew, it would all come together and Naruto would have very strong taijutsu abilities.

Naruto then stopped his circular moving and started to quickly move over two steps, striking with a roundhouse kick and then a quick jab and then another kick, then three quick successive jabs.

"This is a taijutsu style that has no name. It sets up the opponent with quick jabs that are unyielding and then finishes with a powerful roundhouse kick to knock the opponent to the ground."

Naruto, after a few minutes, switched techniques again. He pulled back his arms, holding them up to stop any punches, and only kicked at the post. He put all his weight on his left foot, and then with his right foot kicked the lower part of the post, then the middle and then the top. He pulled his foot down and re-balanced himself. Then he stood on his right foot, turned his body towards the post and repeated the kicks with his left leg.

"The legs contain far more power than the arms ever could. This style uses only the legs to deliver quick, successive strikes to the legs, abdomen, and arms to drive the opponent back and even to break bones."

Naruto then started the final stages of his taijutsu training. He flipped over the wooden post and stuck it with his right fist. Then he rolled to the right and kicked the post. He kept rolling, flipping, kicking, and punching.

"You must be unpredictable. Opponents will slaughter you if you have only one style that is very predictable. You should be like the breeze, flowing whichever way serves you best."

Naruto stopped and stood up straight, sweat dripping down his face. He breathed deeply for a few seconds and worked on calming his mind.

"Ready for the next part?" asked Menthos.

"Yes."

"Jump on top of the post and balance yourself on one foot. Most fighters or people in general think that fighting is being about strong and hitting harder." Menthos paused to let the words sink into Naruto's mind. "They are wrong. It is all about balance. If you are balanced you can compensate for agility and strength. If you combine strength, agility, and balance, you can be one of the top five fighters in the world."

"Like the Kages' are," stated Naruto.

"Yes."

Naruto jumped up on top off a post. He raised his right foot and bent it so it was right next to his left knee. He stood there on his left leg, trying to keep his balance.

"After you finish, you will practice the ninjutsu you must know to pass the genin exam."

"Okay."

**.oOoOoOo.**

Later that night, as he slept, he dreamt. He walked down old roads from his childhood, he watched himself get beaten by shopkeepers and other civilians.

"You see…they will never accept you. You are a demon, and nothing more," said a voice that strangely sounded like Menthos.

He then saw images of wars past. Then came mages of warriors killing each other with spears and swords, millions fighting millions. There were no jutsu, merely weapon and skill. They killed without mercy.

"Be like them. They were the greatest warriors around."

A one golden armored man leading 50 other men overtook an entire temple by himself.

"Be like Achilles, a warrior of times past. Be great, be the greatest."

Then the images of his childhood came back.

"They will never accept you for what you are. You must…fight…fight…fight…kill…kill…kill…for…GLORY!"

* * *

"We cannot stand for this. War is coming soon, and there are those crazy missing-nin out there!" exclaimed a fat, bald merchant.

"Calm down Yunoi," ordered an old man, his long beard and hair obscuring his face. "We will be fine. I think allying ourselves is actually a smart decision."

"I will not calm down, Kaza, I have too much to lose in this 'alliance'," screeched Yunoi, the fat merchant.

The old man, Kaza, sighed. "I do not think that I will accommodate your individualistic ideals this time, Yunoi."

"I am with Kaza, we must think of ourselves and our village. We are the largest exclusively merchant village in the world. I mean, they even call our village the village hidden in gold," commented a younger looking man.

"Shut your gob, Umara. You have only a paltry sum of money, this will not affect you like it will affect me," angrily admonished Yunoi. Sweat dripped down Yunoi's face. The fat merchant was sweating from yelling at the other council members, and from the fear of losing his large stash of money.

Umara snorted. "You think you have a large sum of money compared to me?" He then produced a few slips of paper from the sleeves of his robe and held them up for everyone to see. "I have here, the personal cards of four trading businesses; each one is from one of the kage countries. They are very big and rich businesses, and I am their main associate." Umara turned to Yunoi and smirked cruelly. "Who is richer now, you piece of over greased fat."

Another man stood up. He was older than the rest, his back bent and his body weakened by age. "Order! I will not have you arguing like monkeys. I, Shogo, Tai, and Tsubame, have remained out of the conversation so far, but now it is time for us to step in and for the entire council to talk and behave civilly."

Shogo, a middle aged man with a heavy brow and square jaw, turned to Umara. "Why have you not told us of these contact businesses of yours. You are part of the council, you must do what is best for the village, not what is best for you."

Umara was irate. Who were they to tell him that he could not have secrets, when each of them had secret trades of their own. "Well, Shogo, I did not think it mattered all that much."

Tsubame, the older of the two women on the council, pointed a finger at Umara and glared at him. "Of course it matters. Trading partnerships with a Kage Nation could be very beneficial to us."

Yunoi, tired of all the talk about secretive trading, stood up and thumped his hand loudly on the table. "Enough of this, we are not here to discuss that. We are here to discuss this so called alliance with Orochimaru."

Tai, a brunette who had earned her spot on the council through a groundbreaking trading deal with Cloud Country, nodded in agreement with Yunoi. "Yes, we are here to discuss this alliance matter. An alliance with Orochimaru is tentative at best. He betrayed Konoha in the past, how do we know he will not break our agreement?"

Kaza answered her, "We cannot be certain, and we must not forget that he relies on us also. No other village is associating with Orochimaru due to the fact that Konoha would withdraw all help and trade from them. If Orochimaru betrays us, we simply cut off all his money. He needs us, he needs our trade. As strong as he is, he cannot survive without money for food, weapons, and other tools."

Tai snorted at Kaka's statements. "You do realize he could wipe us off the face of the earth if we cut off his trade."

"What do you know, Tai? You act high and mighty, I don't even know why the hell you are on this council," remarked an angry Kaza.

"Calm down, both of you," ordered Shogo.

"Get off your high horse, Shogo," spat the old man, Kenzo.

"Kenzo, you are a pompous ass, with more secret trades than the rest of us combined," stated a smirking Tsubame.

"Yea, if anyone has no right to talk it is you," remarked Yunoi, and the others' grumblings backed up Yunoi's statement.

Umara, amidst all the arguing and bickering, stood up and walked over to a corner. There, in the dark, shadowy corner, sat a hidden figure. A figure dressed in all black, almost one with the darkness around him.

"Are you ready to fulfill your side of our bargain?" asked Umara.

The man stared at the bickering council for a few moments and then nodded his head.

"Well, Onryou, the vengeful ghost, get rid of my problem," ordered Umara.

"The money?" asked Onryou, the shadowy man, his voice raspy, as if he had not talked in ages.

"The money is in the corner across from you. You can have it after you get solve my problem," stated Umara.

A quick movement, a quick second later, Umara gasped in pain. He looked down, and saw a sliver dagger sticking out of his stomach.

"Why?" asked Umara as he lurched, unstable on his feet…whoozy from the pain.

"Problem solved," was the answer he received. Onryou pulled his dagger back, and Umara fell to the floor unceremoniously…dead.

Onryou got up and strode towards the arguing council members. He smiled a smile that was anything but friendly. "Problem solved," he repeated, and pulled forth both his daggers and went to work, earning his pay.

* * *

Iruka walked home, carrying some papers he had to grade in a backpack. He wanted to get to his apartment to quickly grade the papers and then to head to bed. Iruka was desperately craving sleep, and what was worse, was that the gennin exams were on the next day.

_I hope Naruto passes. He deserves it; he has worked hard all year_, though Iruka, gazing at the night sky, thinking of his own gennin exam.

Iruka had passed with full marks. The Hokage had even told him that he could make ANBU in no time if he wanted. But he fell in love with teaching and decided it was his true calling. Iruka shook his head, he should have taken that ANBU job, and then maybe he would have had a real chance with Anko and Kurenai.

As soon as he reached his apartment and entered, an ANBU appeared.

"The Hokage has requested your presence, Iruka-san," stated the ANBU.

Iruka put his backpack on the floor of his apartment. "Okay, I am ready to go."

Iruka closed his apartment door behind him, but forgot to lock it. He hurriedly followed the ANBU to the Hokage Office. They leapt over buildings and eventually, as a salute to his younger days, Iruka jumped and ran up the side of Hokage Tower, leaping into the Hokage's office through the window.

A laughing Sarutobi greeted him. "Oh, Iruka, I have not seen you do that since you were Naruto's age."

"Old habits die hard, Hokage-sama," sheepishly admitted Iruka, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, Iruka, laughter keeps us young, so continue your antics," stated the laughing Hokage. But then his visage turned serious. "Iruka, as fun as it is for us to reminisce, I have a few things to ask you."

Iruka also ceased his laughing and sat down on a chair. "What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"Do you think that Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura can work well on a team together?"

Iruka was surprised, and he let it show. "Well, I am not sure. Sasuke is pursued by Sakura, and a few months ago, Naruto fell in love with Sakura. Truthfully, it is not the greatest teammate matching, but Naruto is probably the only one who can draw Sasuke out of his shell."

The Hokage looked thoughtful. "Thank you Iruka, I will take what you have said into consideration." The Hokage stood up and led Iruka to the door.

Iruka, wondering what the whole meeting had really been about, left the office and quickly ran home.

Iruka got back to his apartment fairly quickly and when pulled out his key to open his door, when it just swung open. Iruka cursed himself for being an idiot. He had left his door open, and while thieves were not that big of a deal in Konoha, things still got stolen every now and then, especially from people who left their homes unlocked.

Iruka went inside, turned his lights on, and hastily looked back and forth to check if his home looked ransacked. He, in his haste, easily missed the two women sitting on his couch.

Just as he was about to head into his kitchen, a voice called out to him, "You aren't just going to leave us here are you Iruka?"

Surprised, Iruka let out a squeak and turned around. The sight that greeted him was Anko rolling around on his carpet, laughing loudly, and Kurenai sitting on his couch, silently shaking with mirth.

Pointing at him, and continuing to laugh, Anko managed to get out, "You squeaked. The big bad Iruka squeaked, haha."

_Well, I am not big bad Iruka, but I don't mind if she thinks so_, thought Iruka. He walked over to the couch and bowed to both Kurenai and Anko.

"Kurenai-san, Anko-san, what brings you to my home?" asked Iruka inquisitively. He was dying inside from the curiosity of why two beautiful women were in his house, very clearly not drunk.

"Well, we had fun at with you at the restaurant and we decided, since we are free today, to see what you are doing," replied Kurenai.

Anko got up off the floor, and put her finger on her chin, assuming a thoughtful pose. "Now, Iruka, the morning after the date with you, me and Kurenai woke up in the same bed, without any clothes on." Anko leaned closer to Iruka, a cruel grin on her face. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that…would you?"

Iruka gulped audibly, and backed away from the two women, realistically scared for his life. "Ah, I have no idea; I left much earlier than morning, Anko. I truly have no idea." Iruka hoped that his rapidly shifting eyes would not give him away.

Anko shook her head and waggled her finger at him. "Bad Iruka, bad bad bad Iruka. You're lying. I can tell, I interrogate people for a living." Anko slid up to Iruka, molding her body around him. "Do you want to tell the truth, or do I have to get tough with you?"

Iruka was now sweating, being so unfortunately put under pressure. "Na-n-no, Anko-san," he replied. "I am telling the truth…I sw-swear it." He then gulped loudly, hoping to god nothing horrible happened to him.

Kurenai got up off his couch and walked over to the side of him that did not have Anko draped over it. She also molded her body against his. "I think we need to get tough, Anko-chan."

The two women seized Iruka's arms and dragged him into _his_ bedroom. They flung him on the bed and Anko quickly produced some rope, from _god knows where_, and tied Iruka's hands to the headboard.

Anko brushed her hands together in the universally sigh of 'all done'. "Well that wasn't too bad now was it, Iru-kun?"

"Uhh, are you done?" Iruka asked tentatively.

Kurenai walked over to him and caressed his cheek. "Oh, Iruka-kun, we have only begun."

Iruka gulped…loudly.

* * *

"Why exactly are we doing this mission?" inquired Asuma.

"Because only we three, you, I, and Takezo can complete this mission," answered Kakashi.

"Yup, that's us…the unbeatable three," stated a very happy Takezo.

"What's got you so happy?" grumbled Asuma.

Takezo, being the chipper fool he was, spread his arms, twirling in his spot, stated, "Its cause I am alive, and what's even better is that I have a mission with the great Kakashi!"

Kakashi smiled, shaking his head at Takezo's antics.

Asuma, on the other hand, was looking dour. "I am just as great as you are," he complained, pointing at Kakashi.

Kakashi chuckled. He then shook his head once more and jumped up into a nearby tree. "Let's go team," he ordered, motioning them forward with his hand. "The Hokage sent us because there is a meeting near the Tsungi Village, and it is between the Akatsuki and a private contract killer."

"Alright, alright, we are coming," grumbled Asuma, picking up his trench knives and joining Kakashi and Takezo in the trees.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Hidan turned and smacked one of his subordinates. "Where is that fucker? I want to go back and get started on my ritual."

The subordinate bowed and hastily uttered, "I am sure he will be here soon, my lord. He has promised to come and he will be on time."

Hidan glared at the bowing man. "He better or it's your head that goes."

"Yes, yes, I understand. I will go get him," said the man as he ran off.

Hidan snorted and sat back down on his uncomfortable rock. "Stupid subordinates."

Kuzuku chuckled. "You are getting tense. This will not go down well if you remain angry. Plus, we are paying this man money; we need to have good relations with him…for now."

Hidan turned his head. Kuzuku merely laughed some more.

Just then, the subordinate who had scurried off to find the contract killer, returned, his face pale.

He bowed. "Hidan-sama, Kuzuku-sama, we have a…problem."

"What is it, fucker, what the fuck went wrong this time?" questioned Hidan.

"I cannot find our lookouts. They have disappeared," stated the man.

"Goza, go and find where they went. If you find anyone…kill," ordered Kuzuku.

"Yes sir," replied Goza. Goza then took off at a run.

"I hope, for his sake, that he deals with the threat. I do not feel like fighting right now," stated Kuzuku casually.

"Whatever. I still don't understand why we need a fucking _Koroshiya_, a fucking hitman," complained Hidan.

Hidan then looked around. "So, Goza's gone. What is the real reason we want to hire this Onryou?" he whispered.

Kuzuku looked around to make sure no spies were around. "We need this Onryou because our leader has some business with Onryou's master."

Hidan gave Kuzuku an incredulous look. "And what the fuck is so great about his master?"

"His master is supposedly Makaseru, a powerful demon," explained Kuzuku.

"Holy shit…no lie?"

Kuzuku nodded his head, scanning the area for the return of Goza. He then turned back to Hidan, stating, "I do not think this is the time for lies, Hidan."

"Yea, yea, whatever," replied Hidan. He shifted his body and leaned back, placing his head on his crossed arms.

Kuzuku scowled. Hidan always took things easy. The only one thing that Hidan cared about was his damn god, Jashin. Hmpf, Kuzuku could not think one on single thing that Jashin god had given Hidan, other than immortality. _What a horrible teammate, I can't wait until I get rid of him, I will find a way_, he vowed to himself.

"What ya thinking?" asked Hidan, who had caught his partner's brow tensing and relaxing rapidly.

"Nothing that concerns you," replied Kuzuku coldly.

"Whatever, fucker," stated Hidan, turning his head to face away from Kuzuku. He didn't mind Kuzuku as a partner, but the string man had weird lapses. He would be normal and then suddenly turn cold like the world was out to get his stringy ass. Hidan was confused so he did what most others did, he ignored it.

.**oOoOoOo.**

"Can you hear what they are talking about?" questioned Kakashi.

Asuma shook his head and Takezo did the same.

"Damn. I guess we will have to move in closer somehow."

Takezo crept forward, looking for another area where the three shinobi could hide. He looked at Hidan and Kuzuku, and realized that the two Akatsuki members were as off guard as they were ever going to be.

"Kakashi-san, I think we can move in and listen to them. They are completely off guard. We can get in closer, I am certain of it," stated Takezo.

"Just how certain are you?" questioned Asuma, who was a born worrier, but hid it well.

"I am a jounin, I didn't get here by not begin certain of what I know," replied Takezo in an affronted tone.

"Guys! Calm down, I hear someone coming!" Kakashi whispered loudly. He turned around and pulled up his headband, revealing his sharingan. "Asuma, watch the left. Takezo, keep an eye out on the right."

Asuma nodded, pulling out his trench knives. Takezo turned to look right, and pulled out his katana. Kakashi decided to keep an eye on the two Akatsuki members.

"There is a shinobi trying to creep up on our position, Kakashi," said Asuma, after two or three minutes of diligent watching.

"Okay, pretend like you did not see him. Once he gets close enough, you attack. Takezo, I want you to use your special attack and make sure he does not get away," ordered Kakashi.

Takezo nodded. Asuma turned back to his lookout position and pretended like he could not see the enemy shinobi creeping up.

As Asuma watched another shinobi, dressed in all black clothes, followed the first shinobi. "Kakashi, we have another shinobi. But he does not seem to be with the first one. This is starting to look very fishy."

Kakashi groaned. "Great…a simple spying mission, and now we have to other enemy shinobi."

At that moment, the first enemy shinobi, Gozo, decided he had come close enough and rushed forward, drawing a short sword. Asuma patted Kakashi and Takezo on their backs, letting them know of the upcoming attack.

"Die leaf nin!" shouted Gozo as he jumped upwards, ready to deliver an overhead sword strike.

Asuma lifted his trench knives and blocked the strike, while Kakashi appeared next to Gozo and delivered a kick to Gozo's side. Takezo ran forward and swiped at Gozo's head with his katana. Gozo, while hurt by Kakashi's kick, remained in enough presence of mind as to duck. Takezo's katana sailed over Gozo's head.

Gozo scrambled backwards, away from the three Konoha ninja. He did not want to get hurt again. Even though Gozo was a high ranking Akatsuki subordinate, he was a coward at heart, better at accounting and planning than fighting.

Asuma laughed at the cowardice of Gozo. Takezo smiled and even Kakashi looked like he thought the situation was funny. None of them, however, realized that the second enemy shinobi was now only twenty feet away from them.

Onryou walked closer and closer to the three Konoha nin and Gozo. He walked silently, steadily. He pulled out his two daggers and closed his eyes.

Asuma stopped laughing when he suddenly saw the second enemy shinobi, who he had forgotten about, appear behind Gozo and stab Gozo on both sides of the neck with crystalline daggers.

Kakashi stopped chuckling and got into a fighting stance. "Who are you?"

Onryou gave no reply; he merely wrenched his daggers free of Gozo's neck and wiped them on the dead man's clothes. He then stood straight and sheathed his daggers. "I am a man born to end lives."

Takezo took a step back. The voice of the black dressed albino was raspy and grating. "What do you mean?" Takezo asked shakily.

"I meant what I said." With that, Onryou rushed forward, aiming at Asuma with his hand.

Asuma waved his trench knives and got into his fighting stance. He waited for Onryou to come near, and then dropped down to the ground, spun his body, and attempted to kick Onryou in the back of the legs. Unfortunately for Asuma, his kick came nowhere close to hitting Onryou. Instead, Asuma hit a leaf, which Onryou had substituted himself with.

Kakashi lunged at Onryou, who had reappeared about 10 feet away from Asuma. The kunai in Kakashi's hand came close to cutting Onryou, but the hitman merely dodged to the side, bent down and delivered two quick, powerful punches to Kakashi's right kidney. Needless to say, Kakashi bent over, caught in the throes of unbelievable pain.

Onryou, seeing Asuma nursing his shin and Kakashi doubled over in pain, decided to take down Takezo. Takezo was not a native of Konoha. He had grown up in the slums of an island that was now demolished and uninhabited. It was on that island, though, that he learned most of his special techniques.

"Yes, come to me, nin. Let me show you my abilities," taunted Takezo as he rushed towards Onryou.

Takezo readied his katana and muttered, "_Katon: Kaen no Mori_ (Fire Style: Lance of Flame)." His katana suddenly burst into fire. Takezo spun and flipped his katana around his body, showing off his sword skills.

Onryou showed no response to the flaming katana, and merely pulled out his crystalline daggers. He criss crossed them and used the double dagger guard to block Takezo's katana. Onryou then kicked out with his left foot, catching Takezo in the stomach. Takezo flew back and hit a tree.

Kakashi got up, and ran towards Onryou, furiously going through some handseals. Onryou disappeared and then reappeared in front of him, hitting him with a punch to the stomach. Kakashi doubled over in pain. Another punch from Onryou hit his shoulder, knocking him over. Kakashi fell to the ground and lay there for a second. That second, though, was enough for Onryou to kick Kakashi in the stomach, making Kakashi nearly blacked out from the pain.

"Run weakling nin, the Akatsuki are coming closer. They will find you and kill you. My business is not with you, and thus you will survive. Leave!" commanded Onryou.

Kakashi got up, helped Asuma up, and then the two of them jogged over to Takezo, picking him.

Onryou waved goodbye as the three Konoha nin disappeared. Smiling, Onryou jumped up into a nearby tree and waited for the Akatsuki to come.

**.oOoOoOo.**

Hidan and Kuzuku ventured into the forest, wondering what the noises they had heard earlier were. They did not go farther than 10 feet in, because at their feet lay the body of Gozo.

"Great, the fucker got himself killed," spat Hidan, his contempt for the dead man evident to Kuzuku.

Kuzuku sighed, secretly agreeing with Hidan. "What killed him?"

Onryou, who had been watching the two Akatsuki, dropped down from a nearby tree branch, announcing, "I killed him."

Hidan turned and smiled. "You? I doubt it."

Onryou merely pointed a finger at Hidan, and channeled his chakra, pushing it out of his finger and into Hidan. Hidan flew back into a tree and slid to the ground.

"I can do anything," hissed Onryou.

"Calm down Hidan…and you too, hitman. We are here to discuss business," commanded Kuzuku.

Hidan got up and walked back over to his previous spot. "Fine, let's talk then."

**.oOoOoOo.**

Kakashi and Asuma had made it back to Konoha. They took Takezo to a hospital, where he would have to stay overnight.

Kakashi then headed over to the Hokage's office, alone.

Once he arrived, he sat down in the nearest seat and slumped over, obviously tired.

Sarutobi, the Hokage, smiled at Kakashi and patiently waited.

"We were…beaten. That man, that assassin they hired, beat all three of us into a pulp, Hokage-sama. Us! Asuma and I are among the best of the leaf and Takezo is no lightweight either and we were demolished."

"There is always someone stronger Kakashi," stated the Hokage, calmly puffing on his pipe. "Tell me exactly what happened and then we will go over your team 7 candidates."

Kakashi nodded. It was time to get down to business.

* * *

"You are getting distracted."

"**Keep yourself out of my business, Urahara.**"

"Why, Zetsu? Is there something going on that you didn't tell Dageki about?"

"I am part of the Nine, I will not betray, but some things are personal," growled Zetsu.

"That woman and child are a liability to you, Zetsumei."

"I do not believe you. Other members of the Nine have children and wives, how are they not liabilities?" scoffed Zetsu.

"No, they are not. Those men have had those wives and children for quite a while, and thus are prepared for what is to come. You, on the other hand, have been a killer your whole life. A loner, Zetsu. You now have these two females that you, out of nowhere, feel something for," replied Urahara.

Zetsu stood up and turned to face Urahara. Urahara was a tall man. He had fire-red hair, and red eyes. His clothes were all red and even his skin looked slightly burnt.

Zetsu smoothed out his cloak. "**What are you looking for, Urahara? Why are you here?**"

"I think that you are a liability to the Nine, just like those two females are to you. I am here to terminate your membership."

"Does Dageki know about this?"

"He doesn't need to know, Zetsu. Shinobi die all the time…life goes on."

Zetsu lunged forward, nearly striking Urahara in the face. Zetsu missed, not because he was too slow, but because Urahara was fire.

"**How did you move so quickly**?" growled Zetsu.

"Every couple hundred years or so, an incarnation of an element is born. I am the incarnation of fire. I am quick to temper, and nigh impossible to control. I spread quickly, and can flicker in and out of existence at any moment," replied Urahara proudly.

"That presents a problem, then, elemental," stated Zetsu. "How to beat you will be a dilemma, but nevertheless, your defeat is imminent."

Urahara laughed. "My defeat….you overestimate yourself. You are plant, I am fire. You will burn before my power."

Zetsu frowned. Urahara was right. Plants are easily susceptible to fire.

"I will not lose to you Urahara," stated Zetsu with absolute confidence. "I will overcome your fire."

Uruhara smirked and a fireball appeared in his right hand.

Zetsu pulled off his cloak, leaving him in black pants and shinobi sandals. He cracked his neck and lowered himself into a fighting stance that no other person in the world knew.

Urahara launched his fireball, aiming for Zetsu's head. Zetsu dropped to the ground, evading said fireball, but unknowingly, he put himself in the path of the second fireball. Zetsu quickly rolled to the left, the fireball barely missing his arm.

"You are underestimating me, Zetsumei. I know that your fighting style is unqiue, but…I am not a weak nin, easily cowered by the unknown," remarked Urahara.

Zetsu gave no reply, merely rushing forward, kicking at Urahara's head, while striking the incarnation of fire's stomach with his opposite arm.

Urahara blocked the kick with his forearm, but the punch landed, and he staggered backwards.

"You are good, Zetsumei," he commented.

"You have been underestimating me," remarked Zetsu. Zetsu stuck at Urahara with his foot once more, but Urahara blocked the kick with his shin, and delivered a devastating punch to the thigh muscle of Zetsu's leg.

Zetsu hobbled back a few steps. He had always favored kicking with his right leg, and now Urahara had seemingly disabled his leg. Zetsu frowned.

Zetsu channeled chakra into his right arm. Vines grew around his arms, and then they started to tangle around each other, forming a vine sword.

"A little early to be pulling out jutsu, is it not Zetsu?"

"I did not wish to use this yet," admitted Zetsu. "But you are a worthy opponent, I will take you seriously now." He gestured to his vine blade. "This is the _Juryō Yōzan Ken_ (Wood Spirit Demon Beheading Technique). It creates a blade out of vines. The vines can scratch, stab or slash."

"Interesting." Urahara pulled forth a red katana from his back and waved it around experimentally. "I have my own sword. Let us see whose blade is better."

Urahara jumped forward, slashing downward. Zetsu lifted his blade to block Urahara's katana. The katana dug deep into the vine sword, but was unable to cut through it completely.

"Your plants do not look so well, Zetsu," said Urahara, smirking.

"You are quick to look, but slow to see," countered Zetsu.

Urahara withdrew a few paces and put his katana in guard position. "We shall see, Zetsumei."

* * *

A/N: Maybe I am a bitch for leaving the chapter there, but I felt like it. Next chapter will begin with the Zetsu vs. Urahara fight. Urahara is the incarnation of fire, and one of the higher ranking members of the Nine. A lot of people are going to die and be weeded out, so be ready for that in the upcoming chapters. Also next chapter is genin exams and wave arc. It will be a huge chapter, maybe 15,000 words or so. 

Well, review, let me know how you feel. I cannot get better unless you guys let me know what is good, what could be better, and what sucked. Also…I hope you had fun reading so far. I don't want to bore you all, so I am trying to write as best as I can. I do not have a beta, so there maybe some mistakes here and there. So, yea….see you guys next chapter!


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